Shivers
by Silent Comet
Summary: Rei gets sucked into a game called Shivers, with a maze of a museum and life-sucking spirits. Well, what happens when the G-boys get pulled down too, but have no idea how to handle the mind puzzles and tricks they have to solve to escape the museum? R/H
1. Chapter 1

Shivers  
  
Hey! Here is my third GW/SM fic, hope you like it. For those who didn't bother to read the summary, Shivers is a pc game (that I don't own, along with all the characters in this story) and it's a little boring but I like it so much, it's the setting for my new fic. And I should warn you, for people with the patience to be actually playing Shivers, this contains major spoilers. Don't worry; I give pretty detailed descriptions, so you don't have to play the game to get what's going on. Anyway, everything else will eventually be explained. Well, enjoy! Oh, yeah and (this means thinking.)  
  
Rei's P.O.V.  
  
Rei slumped down on her bed. (Five youmas and three lemures. What a day...) She glanced up and sighed as she noticed her room was still the same mess it was that morning. (It can wait until tomorrow...) Rei rolled over and felt around for a t-shirt and jerked to a stop as she felt something approaching. Jumping up, she looked around. (What is it? What's about to happen?)  
  
Her question was answered when the floor suddenly gave out under her and she felt herself tumbling into darkness.  
  
Rei opened her eyes, expecting to see a pile of dirty clothes, but instead saw a small pile of glass and gold-yellow linoleum floor. She surprisingly felt a cold draft and looked down at her shirt.  
  
"What the..." She was wearing a skimpy mini-skirt, even shorter than her uniform, bright red, and cut off at a tube top around her chest. The part encircling the front of her chest was tight and uncomfortably low. She looked lower. She had calf-high white socks and red spike heels with ribbons wrapping up over her socks and tying in neat knots.  
  
Rei growled and stood up, a little unsteady on the new heels that seemed impossibly higher than her uniform heels. She looked around the empty area. It was a lobby of some sort, with a long, broken showcase next to her, a set of stairs leading up to a large, wooden door, next to that was a dried up stone pool that looked to be a fountain, to her left were two wooden doors, one with a marble terrace over it, the other in the shadows next it. Rei turned around to see a beautiful spiral staircase leading up to a platform by a squarish stone-looking door with an Egyptian- looking painting of a man across it. A magnificent crystal chandelier hung silently above the staircase.  
  
Rei turned her head and saw a set of metal, blue double doors behind a small work desk with a few papers scattered across it. Turning again, Rei saw, on the other side of the showcase, another, smaller set of stairs, leading down to what looked like another set of double doors with a large panel across it.  
  
Rei turned around slowly, taking in the room again. (This is so familiar, for some reason...) She stopped. "You have got to be kidding!" She stamped her foot and growled, listening to the click echo off the far walls. (This can't be happening, how the hell did I get stuck in a stupid computer game?!) Rei glanced around again. (Yeah, this is it to a tee. But dammit, why Shivers, of all games?)  
  
Back in the real world~~~~  
  
Duo dashed madly down a long corridor in Quatre's expansive mansion.  
  
"This time I'm going to kill you, baka!" Wufei yelled from behind him, gaining on Duo easily.  
  
Duo hopped nimbly over edge of the stairs and landed with a tinge of pain at the bottom. He gasped for breath as he spun around the corner. Wufei landed behind him somewhat more gracefully than Duo had.  
  
"You'll pay now!" Wufei yelled as he caught Duo by the back of his shirt and pinned him to the wall with his katana.  
  
"Geez, I didn't think you'd mind so much!" Duo half-laughed, trying not to set him off more.  
  
"You can't think you can go and paint my room and I would not mind?! And pink of all colors!" Wufei was practically screaming now and Trowa, Quatre and Heero leaned around the corner to see if Wufei had killed Duo yet.  
  
"Wufei, why don't you just paint it back?" Quatre suggested.  
  
"I have." Wufei growled. "But his insolence cannot go unpunished..." Wufei raised his katana higher and closer to Duo's throat.  
  
The sound of the safety being clicked off a gun brought Wufei's attention to his right. He found himself staring down the loaded barrel of Heero's handgun.  
  
"Let him go." Heero commanded in his standard monotone.  
  
Wufei growled again, but sheathed his katana inside his coat.  
  
Trowa stepped forward. "Does anyone but me hear something?"  
  
The room went perfectly still for a moment as they all silenced to listen. The still was only broken by Duo's "Whoa!" as they fell into the dark pit that opened under their feet.  
  
Rei's P.O.V.  
  
Rei breathed a sigh of relief as she finally got the ribbon knots loose and took off the heels that had landed her on her rear for the third time as she made her way over to the small wooden door in the shadows.  
  
She pulled them off and they thunked to the floor. (Now I can finally walk right.) She glanced down at her new outfit. (At least there's no one around.)  
  
Her heart fell as she heard four soft grunts and a loud bang and turned around to see four boys fall to the floor and one grab the stair railing as he fell from somewhere around the ceiling. The boy on the stairs swung his leg up over the railing nimbly and slid down, his brown braid flipping carelessly over his shoulder as he spun around the spiral.  
  
He landed on the floor with a loud thump and one of the other boys, this one attractive with jet black hair tied tightly back in a small ponytail, snorted irritably. He dusted off his long white coat and crossed his arms. Rei couldn't see his face; he had his back to her as did the other boys.  
  
"Are you okay, Duo?" A small, blonde boy asked the one with the braid.  
  
"I'm alright, thanks Quatre."  
  
"Where are we?" A tall boy with hair over his face asked quietly.  
  
"In the lobby of some large building." Another boy with messy brown hair said in an emotionless voice.  
  
Rei gulped. (Don't tell me I have to help these guys get out of here...)  
  
The boy in white jerked and turned around eyes scanning the walls.  
  
(Better come out now.) Rei stood up; trying to forget the next-to- nothing outfit she was wearing. "Excuse me?" She waved her hand a little, getting all of their attentions. "Yeah, you wouldn't happen to know how you got here would you?"  
  
Five guns were trained on her in an instant. Rei rolled her eyes. "Fine, stay here, die, get the life sucked out of you. See if I care." She kicked her shoes out of the way and made her way back to the door she was headed for.  
  
Something grabbed her arm and she stopped. Turning around, she came face to face with the boy in white. He had cold black eyes and his hand was solid on her arm. "Let go." Rei hissed.  
  
"What do you mean, 'let us die'?" The blond boy, Quatre asked as he walked calmly to the other boy's side.  
  
Rei jerked her arm away. "I take it you don't know where you are." She took the following silence for a 'no'. "You are in Professor Windlnot's Museum of the Strange and Unusual." Rei crossed her arms. "Actually you are in the game Shivers, but in the game, you are in the museum."  
  
The boy in front of her snorted. "You are insane, onna."  
  
Rei felt her anger flare at the use of the word 'onna', which she had always took to mean she was lesser. She snorted back to the boy. "Don't talk like you are better than me, boy. My name is Rei, and don't forget it." She lifted her head. "And I'm not crazy. You all are crazy if you are thinking about wandering around here without knowing what you'll find." Once again, she turned her back, not surprised to find her arm, once again, snatched.  
  
She turned to find the other boys listening intently to her as well. "What do you mean?" The boy with a handgun now residing in his right hand, asked.  
  
Rei sighed. "This place is a literal maze. There are all sorts of puzzles around to keep you back."  
  
Duo raised his hand. "Um, yeah, I think we can handle a few puzzles."  
  
Rei pursed her lips and glared at him. "If you'll let me finish. Now, scattered around the museum are..." Rei looked away, searching for the right word. "Spirits. If you get near them, they attack you and steal your life's essence. To win the game and get out of the museum, you have to capture all the spirits."  
  
"Ha!" The boy in front of her burst out. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."  
  
"Wufei..." Quatre scolded softly.  
  
"Well, Wufei." Rei glared at him. "Go over to that fountain over there, and turn it on. There's a switch beneath a panel on the side."  
  
Wufei looked over at the fountain, and back at Rei. "Let me guess, one of the spirits is going to attack me." Rei nodded curtly. Wufei rolled his eyes and walked over to the fountain. Feeling along the side, he found the switch and turned it.  
  
Water bubbled up and flowed swiftly from the mouth of the fountain. "Watch closely..." Rei muttered.  
  
Wufei frowned and looked at the water. Green sparks played across the surface. He opened his mouth as a surge of water lifted up and seemed to take the form of a creature. It swung a fist at Wufei and it went through his chest. With a growl and a splash of water, it disappeared back into the fountain and Wufei dropped to the ground.  
  
The other boys and Rei dashed to his side. Rei reached in the panel and turned off the water.  
  
"What was that?!" Duo yelled.  
  
"That was the Water Ixupi." Rei responded calmly. "It just stole some of your life essence."  
  
Wufei leaned up, clutching his chest. "How do I get it back?"  
  
Rei stood up and took a step back, remembering how short her skirt was. "You have to find the water jar and talisman and capture it." Duo leaned forward a bit. Rei swiped at him and clutched at her skirt, holding it to her legs.  
  
"How is it you know so much about these things?" The boy with the hair in his face asked suspiciously, ignoring Duo's rude action.  
  
"I told you, this is a game. And it happens to be one of the few I actually beaten." Rei shrugged and turned around, half-expecting her arm to be grabbed again.  
  
"Wait a second!"  
  
Rei turned back. "What?"  
  
Quatre stood up and approached her. "Yes, well, we don't know anything about this place-"  
  
"You want to come with me." Rei finished, closing her eyes.  
  
Wufei stood up slowly. "Not that we need you." He assured forcefully.  
  
Rei nodded, not bothering to argue. "Then let's go. Oh, yeah. I know all of your names except you," She pointed to the boy with the hair in his face, "And you." She pointed to the other brown haired boy with no expression.  
  
"Trowa." The first said.  
  
The second hesitated. "Heero." Duo answered for him.  
  
"Well, boys, first thing we need to do is get down to the basement to get a book." Rei trotted off towards the door, kicking her shoes out of the way, she turned abruptly to see Duo giving her rear an awkward look. "Hey!" Rei shouted. He jerked up.  
  
Wufei delivered a hard slap to the back of Duo's head. Duo grinned helplessly. "Hey, why aren't you wearing any shoes?"  
  
"Because I can't walk in them." Rei turned back around and opened the door.  
  
So how was that for a first chapter? A little boring yeah, but I promise, things will get interesting soon enough. Well, review me alright?! 


	2. Chapter 2

Shivers  
  
Rei checked over her shoulder to see if the boys were all going to follow her, and sure enough, there they were. They looked back at her, as if waiting for something. Rei sighed. "What we have to do is go down to the basement and get a book. There's an elevator in this room that will take us down there. After that, there is a maze that will lead us to a lake. We get on this boat and go across. The book is on the other side. Any questions?"  
  
Trowa crossed his arms. "And there is just a boat down there? Waiting?"  
  
Rei nodded. "Yeah. You were supposed to come across it to get into the museum-"  
  
"Get in? You mean there's a way out?" Quatre looked at her.  
  
Rei smiled ruefully. "Yes, it's possible to get out of the museum, but once you're on the grounds, you can't get out any farther. You have to come in here and finish the game."  
  
"We should go now." Heero said, shifting from one foot to the other.  
  
Rei nodded and turned. Opening the door with a creak, she reported to the boys over her shoulder. "There's may be an Ixupi in the fireplace, so don't look at it."  
  
The group proceeded into the chaotic mess that was scattered all over the room. A chair was knocked over, books were thrown everywhere, papers scattered all over the desk and the wastebasket was overturned and dumped all over.  
  
"Someone needs to hire a housemaid..." Duo muttered.  
  
"He was attacked by the Ixupi and trashed his room. Though how the Ixupi were able to attack him when he wasn't near the fireplace is beyond me..." She stepped over the tipped-over chair and opened the door on the other side of the room. "This way..." She said faintly.  
  
The followed her to the door but stopped as they saw a huge pair of double doors stood in front of them. The doors were covered by large white dice. Rei turned and a small, metal panel opened in the wall. She started pushing buttons and the boys leaned over her shoulder.  
  
"What is that?" Wufei asked quietly.  
  
"It's a little puzzle you have to do every time you want to use an elevator. You have to get the little icons lined up. See?" Rei stepped back as the tiny green heads on the gold grid spun once and chimed. The double doors opened and Rei ushered them in. "You have to push the buttons to get them to line up like that and the door opens."  
  
The doors closed with a chime and Rei pushed the button on the wall with a down arrow. Wufei looked around the small elevator and finally set his eyes on Rei. "What exactly are these...things you say are spread around the building?"  
  
Rei shrugged. "They are the Ixupi. A book in the library explains it better. But basically, they are ancient spirits that were locked up in special jars. Each one has an element that they hide in. Oil, ashes, water...they're all listed in another book. Well, the guy who ran this museum bought the jars and a bunch of kids came in fifteen years ago and broke the jars. The Ixupi stole all their life and they died in this museum."  
  
Quatre swallowed. "They died?"  
  
Rei nodded. The elevator chimed again and opened. A burst of cold air hit her. She shivered, very aware of how little she was wearing. Stepping out onto the cold marble floor, she suddenly wished she had tried harder to walk in her shoes. Duo stepped up next to her and leaned over. "Want a ride?"  
  
Rei rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'm fine." She turned to the other and watched as the doors behind them closed. "Now is the maze, it's fairly simple, but we should still stay together." They nodded in unison.  
  
She turned back to the maze and started off. Their footfalls echoed off the walls. Rei looked around the bare walls, at the lights swinging from the ceiling, and at the rusty pipe that ran along the floor next to them. After only a few minutes of silence, the walls opened up into a large, dark stone cavern.  
  
"Whoa..." Duo commented quietly.  
  
Rei looked around. (Good. The boat's on this side of the lake.) She walked over to the large, Egyptian-style barge. She stopped at the edge. "Hey..."  
  
"Rei! I think I found one of those jars you were talking about!" Rei turned and saw Quatre smiling, holding up a clay pot the size of a basketball. A serpent's head lidded the jar.  
  
"No, that's just Professor Windlenot's spirit. When he lost all his life energy, he got stuck in the vessel used to house the one who stole it. It's not any good. Open it if you want to talk to him, but he won't really tell you anything I haven't. But I have to ask." Quatre put down the jar and the all turned to her. "Do any of you have light stomachs, because the book we need is in the arms of a corpse and it wouldn't do to have anyone faint."  
  
Wufei snorted. "We most likely have stronger stomachs than you, onna."  
  
Rei pursed her lips. "My name is Rei." (These idiots have probably never seen a youma in their lives. Stronger stomach than me...)  
  
She hopped into the boat and shivered again. (This boat is colder than the stone!) The boys jumped in noiselessly after her.  
  
"How do we move it?" Heero asked, inspecting a strange looking crank on one side of the boat.  
  
Rei squeezed by the other boys to the other end of the boat. She kneeled down and pushed down a lever. She tugged at the back of her skirt, very aware it was riding up her hips. "Pull up the crank at the bottom and start turning the one on top!" She called over her shoulder.  
  
Rei's head almost smacked into the lever as the boat lurched forward. She pushed by the boys again, trying not to lose her balance and fall into the murky waters. Finally at the head, she listened hard, past the sounds of the stirring water. She smiled when she heard what she wanted. Touching Heero's shoulder, he stopped. Rei raised her voice and addressed all the boys.  
  
"If you all listen hard, you can hear a faint music. This particular rhythm you will only hear when you are a step away from an Ixupi. Heero, crank forward one." He did so. "Now the music is louder. And if you listen, you will hear the element of the Ixupi. You hear water sloshing, and since that is pretty much the only thing around us, that is the Ixupi nearest. One more crank, Heero." He did it, but hesitantly. The sloshing water grew louder and the water creature rose up. It set its eyes on Rei and swiped through her. She stood her ground, but grunted and stepped back. Someone steadied her from behind. "And that's what happens when you look at one of them."  
  
She looked up and smiled faintly at Quatre. "Are you alright?"  
  
Rei nodded. "Yeah." She stood up. "Keep going, Heero, to the other side."  
  
Heero grunted. "Hn." He spun the crank a few more times and the boat pitched ahead.  
  
Wufei stepped around Duo, up to Rei. "I thought the water demon was in the fountain."  
  
"It was, but there's lots of hiding places for all the different Ixupi all over the museum."  
  
Duo laughed. "This place certainly does keep you on your toes..."  
  
Rei laughed. The boat halted to a stop on the bank. She jumped onto the edge and looked around. There was a dark corner over to the side. Rubbing her feet together against the cold stone, Rei walked over there. She sighed. (Gross, I never did like this part.)  
  
"Is that what happens to you when you lose your life energy?" Duo asked next to Rei, making a face.  
  
"It is a particularly...repulsive corpse." Heero commented.  
  
Rei sighed and tip-toed up to it. She reached her hand out and pulled an object from the dark, burnt-like arm of the body.  
  
Duo looked over her shoulder. "Gross. What is it?"  
  
Rei held it out to him. "A book. It has a bunch if stuff we'll need and has a missing page we'll need to look for to get the last jar, and just a lot of stuff."  
  
Duo held up his hands and backed away. "Hey, I ain't touching that..."  
  
Rei laughed and kept the book to herself. She jumped around Wufei, back into the boat. "Well, let's get back."  
  
Quatre looked at her. "That's it? That's all we do over here?"  
  
Rei nodded. "Yeah. Now let's go. My feet are cold."  
  
So, what do you think of chap #2??? A little short yeah, and I know things are developing a little slow, but things will get interesting really soon, I promise. Well, R&R me alright?? 


	3. Chapter 3

Shivers  
  
Rei sighed as she opened the door to the disheveled office. (What is with these guys? None of them ever say anything! Then there's that Duo idiot...) Rei pursed her lips as she saw Duo looking at her butt out of the corner of her eye. She resisted smiling as Wufei pushed Duo out of the small room. Hard.  
  
"So where to now?" Duo asked brightly.  
  
Rei stopped and frowned. "Well..." She nodded. "In the next room over, there's one in the plant exhibit. We should go there next."  
  
Wufei stepped in front of her before she could move. "Is this what this game consists of? Running around collecting things?" His eyes narrowed accusingly.  
  
Rei rolled her eyes and stepped around him, moving over the tipped chair. "I told you, this is a puzzle game. It's a little more interesting when you don't know where everything is."  
  
She turned to them before opening the door. They stared back at her, as though expecting something. (They're all so different. Like soldiers...) She frowned and turned back to the door.  
  
The door creaked open loudly and Rei froze. There was a girl about her age standing in the lobby. The girl turned to Rei and froze as well. She had dark blond hair with two small braids clipped together in the back. She wore a knee-length white skirt, white jacket and plain light blue shirt underneath.  
  
"Hello. I don't mean to trespass..." The girl had a slight air about her.  
  
Rei half smiled. (Great. Now I have a little rich girl to lead around.) "You're not trespassing. The museum's closed anyway."  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry, I am Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian. And you are..." She held out her hand.  
  
"Rei. But I have to ask you how you got here." Rei reached out her own hand.  
  
But the girl wasn't looking at Rei, but over her shoulder. "Heero?!"  
  
Rei moved out of the way as the girl jumped into Heero's somewhat reluctant arms. The other boys hid snickers behind their hands.  
  
"Oh, Heero, what is this place? Everything seems so empty-" She cut her whining short as she spotted the other boys. "Oh, all of you are here." She turned back to Rei. "Who are you? Do you live here?"  
  
Rei rolled her eyes. "This is going to take a while."  
  
Five minutes later, Relena, the girl, was still hanging on to Heero, but was staring at Rei as though she were crazy. "You mean to tell me that this is some sort of a game with a bunch of spirits running around and you," She looked Rei up and down criticizingly. "Are our only hope to get out of here?"  
  
Rei sighed. "Unless you want to try and find your way through here on your own. But if that is what you plan to do, I should warn you, it took me a few months to figure out this game." She crossed her arms.  
  
Heero stepped out of Relena's hold. He looked at Rei. "Are there any rooms where Relena can stay, without anything that would cause damage?"  
  
Rei made a mental note of his suddenly brisk, slightly irritated tone. She turned around, looking around the large lobby. Her eyes fell on the stairs leading down to a set of paneled doors on the other side of the room. "The auditorium. There's a talisman in there anyway. It's big and dark, but there's no Ixupi there."  
  
Heero nodded and walked over to the stairs, Relena trailing faithfully behind him. Rei half smiled as they stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "It won't open!" Relena shrieked irritably.  
  
"I know. The panel on the door opens up to a puzzle." Rei moved around the broken showcase and padded down the short set of steps. Relena once again, eyes Rei's outfit distastefully. Rei ignored her and brushed past the blonde and slid open the large stone panel.  
  
The four other boys stood watching from the top of the steps. Under the stone panel was another, this one with a bunch of moveable symbols in four groups. Rei held up the book she had gotten and flipped to a page in the middle. It had the same symbols, only in different places and next to the four directions, north, south, east and west.  
  
Rei's long, nimble fingers carefully pulled out and rearranged the symbols in their correct positions. Within minutes she had them all right and the stone panel slid shut and split in half, opening the door.  
  
She stepped in, vaguely aware of the others following her. Rei waved her hand at the seats filling the floor on one side of the aisle. "Take a seat Relena. This is where you'll be staying until we finish the game. I'll be right back, the talisman is on stage." She walked up to the right side of the stage. She stepped up the short set of stairs there. The small, dragon shaped talisman sat on the other end of the stage. Rei walked silently across, glancing out into the seats to see the boys waiting patiently, and Relena sulking in a seat.  
  
Rei hid her smile. Her eyes went to the podium that sat in the center of the stage. There was a piece of paper on it. (I remember this.) Rei half- smiled as she glanced over it. She froze and snatched the paper up. (Wait, this isn't what it's supposed to say...) She looked down the paper. It was the usual dialogue between the two teenagers who got caught in the museum, supposedly fifteen years ago, one saying they should meet in the basement, and the other saying there were 'things' down there. Rei stopped midpage.  
  
'What are those things in the Atlantis exhibit?' One line went in blue ink. 'They're so creepy!'  
  
The next line went in messy black ink. 'Maybe they're anamatronic.'  
  
'Why would that creepy professor put anamatronic zombies in this stupid museum?'  
  
'Who knows. Hey, maybe we could meet in the generator room...'  
  
Rei stopped reading as the dialogue fell back into its original conversation. She folded the piece of paper and continued across the stage and snatched up the talisman. (Shit. This is not good at all. It's going to take us long enough to get through this museum, but now we have to deal with something new?)  
  
Relena was still reluctant to stay in the auditorium by herself, but after a few expressionless commands from Heero, she stayed put.  
  
Rei stopped at the showcase in the center of the lobby. (Where to now?) Someone touched her shoulder.  
  
Rei turned around to see Wufei standing solemnly behind her. His onyx eyes pierced her and Rei once again go the feeling that these boys were no ordinary boys. "You looked alarmed up on that stage. What happened?"  
  
Rei suppressed a sigh and glanced behind him at the others, all who were staring at her. "Something's different."  
  
"What is?" Trowa asked quietly.  
  
Rei pulled the paper from the dirty book in her hand. "This." She handed it to Wufei, who unfolded it and read it. "That paper isn't supposed to say anything about zombies. I never saw anything remotely like a zombie the whole time I played, so this might be just a prank by the two who wrote it, but I don't know."  
  
Wufei scanned the paper and handed it to Heero, next to him. Heero went over it and handed it back to Rei.  
  
She replaced it in the book and turned. "We don't need to go in the Atlantis exhibit for a while, so maybe by then, we'll have an idea of what this means."  
  
"So, where to now?" Duo piped up.  
  
Rei hesitated. (Should we go upstairs yet? We shouldn't need anything more down here... Wait!) "I remember! There's another jar in the office!"  
  
She dashed around the showcase and into the jumbled office. She hopped over the chair and around to the desk. The boys stopped in the doorway and looked at her.  
  
(Which drawer was it? Here!) Rei handed the jar in her hands to Quatre, opened the smallest drawer and scooped out the small pot. She knelt down and tugged at the skirt once again riding up her hips. Holding up the dragon figure, she looked it over. "I think this is the top to the oil jar..."  
  
Duo looked at the jar in Quatre's hands. "Hey, what's this picture thing on it for?"  
  
Rei looked up. "That's the symbol for whatever element it is. Speaking of which, we should get to the library for the book with all the symbols." She nodded and made her way around the desk and hopped around Wufei. The door creaked loudly as she opened it.  
  
She hopped up the set of the stairs at the head of the lobby and opened the door. She turned around to the guys. Sure enough, they were there, silently staring, expecting. Rei resisted a shiver. "There's a hiding place for the wax Ixupi in the candles in here. Just don't look at it if you're next to it." Turning, Rei opened the door wider and walked around the long table, squeezing past the chairs. Books lined the shelves of every wall. There was a ladder on one bookcase.  
  
Rei stopped in front of a bookcase and searched through it. She stopped and sighed to herself. A glance behind her told her what she knew was there. The boys continued to watch her. Ever-expecting. Rei swallowed. (They're counting on me to get them out of here. What if I make a mistake? What if one of them ends up like the corpse downstairs?) She shivered at the thought. (They're counting on me. I have to concentrate on what we have to do.)  
  
Hey my friendly reviewers... How was that chapter??? I know the guys sound like a bunch of puppies or something, but that's how they are... They're expecting orders and missions and stuff, so cut me a little slack on their characters. Anyway, I am in a little dilemma here. I want to put Rei with Wufei, but that's the couple I've always used, so I was considering putting her with Heero. What do you think? I seriously want you to tell me in a review, and I totally expect reviews from all of you!! Oh, and to those who want to know, I am still considering dropping a few other Scouts in, but I'm not sure. And Rei will not transform in here, but, she may still retain a few of her powers still. You'll have to see. Whoa, that was a long note! Um, like I said, review me and I'll have the next chap up soon, maybe sometime during next week if I get enough reviews, * wink wink * So, till then, mis amigos! 


	4. Chapter 4

Shivers  
  
Rei poked along the shelf. (Where is that book...) She smiled as she came across a thick book with a pale yellow book cover. "This is the book that tells what the symbols are." She explained over her shoulder. Glancing back, she suppressed another shiver. The boys had barely stirred from behind her. Rei shook her head and looked to her right, at the bookcase with the ladder leaning against it. "There's a talisman up there... Up that ladder." She unconsciously tugged at her skirt and walked over to it, pushing the chairs into the table as she passed.  
  
The boys followed somewhat silently, and stopped as Rei stopped herself and looked up the ladder. A hand reached out in front of her and gripped it. She looked over into Heero's startling ice blue eyes. She took a step back. "What are-"  
  
"You shouldn't go up there."  
  
Rei rolled her eyes. "I've been through this before, remember? There's nothing up there." She jerked the ladder away, out of his hand and recoiled as a large, black blur tumbled off the top of the bookcase and landed with a loud thump behind Rei. She spun around to see a burnt, blackened body lying, twitching on the ground.  
  
The body twitched harder and twisted around on the floor to stare its scorched face up at Rei. Rei backed up a step and ran into something. (The chairs...) The body seemed to twitch closer and swiped a hand out. Rei let out a small cry as it ran a long scratch across her leg. At that moment, something fastened around her waist and clicked behind her.  
  
A hand darted forward, holding a gun and shot the corpse twice. The gunshots seemed to ring in Rei's ears. She looked down. Both bullets had made perfect holes in the corpse's head, right next to each other. The body lay perfectly still, finally dead.  
  
"This is not good..." Rei muttered.  
  
"What is it? What does it mean?"  
  
Rei looked over at the sound of Quatre's voice. The others were well armed, and leaning over the table, still trained on the body.  
  
Rei took a breath. "It means the auditorium isn't as safe as I thought it was."  
  
Then, as if on cue, a loud shriek sounded from outside. The boys hesitated, then all but Rei, Heero and Wufei dashed out the library door. Rei listened to their footsteps echo on the lobby floor. Wufei did not leave but turned his back and stood in the doorway.  
  
Rei was suddenly very aware of Heero's arm around her waist. But he didn't seem to notice Rei's slight blush as he dropped his arm and holstered his gun.  
  
There was a sudden burst of gunfire and Rei pulled herself together enough to turn and walk calmly around the table and peer at the lobby over Wufei's shoulder. He glanced at her and moved over a bit.  
  
Rei nodded a thanks and brought her attention back to the scene outside. Duo and Trowa trudged up the stairs, Duo visibly trying to hold in a laugh, and Trowa with no visible expression. Rei frowned a moment. (Are Trowa and Heero related? They certainly act the same...) After them, came an exasperated Quatre, supporting a crying Relena.  
  
"But it hurts..." Relena whimpered, tears pouring down her face.  
  
As they stepped up, Rei saw a long cut down Relena's leg, at least five inches long. It wasn't gushing out blood, but it did have a few drops collecting at the bottom of the scratch. Rei held in a sigh. Relena's cut was probably no deeper than Rei's. (But with the way she's carrying on, you would think they cut her whole leg off...)  
  
There was a half-audible snort from behind Rei, and Heero brushed past her into lobby. Rei followed and Wufei trotted down the steps, but stood apart from the others, watching the scene with slight amusement.  
  
Relena dropped to the ground, and her cries seemed to become louder and more insistent once she saw Heero. "Heero! Oh, Heero, those creatures cut me..."  
  
Rei tried not to roll her eyes at the way she whimpered and whined on. (I wonder if she's always this weak.)  
  
Relena noticed Rei's irritation and pointed an accusing finger at her. "You knew they were down there! You left me down there to die!"  
  
Rei's anger instantly flared up and she was inches from Relena's face in a second. "I did not know they were down there, and if I really wanted to kill you, trust me, I would think a far more creative way to do it." She raised her voice. "Quatre, do you have a handkerchief or something?" Rei let the two books in her hands drop to the ground.  
  
Quatre shrugged his thin shoulders and dug in his pockets. "I think...yes." He pulled out a white piece of cloth. "Here. It should be clean." He handed it to Rei.  
  
"I'm not going to let you-" Relena began haughtily.  
  
Rei slapped Relena's hands away and tied the cloth around Relena's leg tightly. She gave a sharp cry as Rei gave the bandage a 'reassuring' slap.  
  
"Now, let's go. There are still three more rooms down here until we go upstairs." Rei commanded, trying not to sound like a dictator, but at the same time, trying to keep her irritation under control. She scooped up the books and stood up.  
  
The boys, as if grateful for the order, all but snapped to attention, getting up and following after Rei, leaving Relena standing on her own.  
  
"Better move it, Relena, we don't know where the other creatures are." Rei said over her shoulder. Relena quickly fell into step in the back of the group, trying to hook arms with Heero, but pursing her lips when he quickened his step and stopped next to Rei, who stood in front of the door next to the office door, the one with the marble columns and veranda in front of it.  
  
He reached out and put his hand to the door and pulled out his gun with the other. There were several following clicks as the others prepared. "Get back." Heero told Rei quietly. Rei complied and tried not to look at the silently fuming Relena. (It's not like Heero's holding my hand or anything. What's her problem?)  
  
But Rei's attention was called to the front as the door suddenly burst open and a small explosion of gunfire rang through the air. There were three loud thuds and Wufei and Heero stepped into the room, guns ready, looking for more. The other three stayed back, in front of Rei and Relena. Wufei and Heero, after a minute of silence, nodded back to the others that it was clear. Heero looked at Rei.  
  
"Is there anything here?"  
  
Rei stepped up next to him and looked around the room. There were three, life size dinosaurs along the wall to her left, two stegosauruses and a pterodactyl. Next to them, was a griffin, standing next to a green door, covered in glass vines. The door was half concealed by a massive pile of sticks with a ladder imbedded in the side. On the other side of the pile were four different colored skulls, joined together to make a strange, eerie X. Next to the X was another door. This one was a set of double doors, blue with coral orange trim and dark blue bubbles scattered across it. The corner next to it had only an empty showcase. But along the wall to Rei's right was a giant showcase which held two fish and a large starfish. In the opposite corner was a very ugly and blocky unicorn. Rei sighed, recalling how different the whole museum looks from on a computer screen. She pointed to the ugly unicorn.  
  
"There's a hiding place for the metal Ixupi." She dropped her hand and pointed to the other corner. "Between those two dinosaurs is a tar pit where the oil Ixupi usually is."  
  
Duo stepped past them and picked up an inhaler that lay in front of the fish case. "Hey Rei, do you have asthma or something?"  
  
Rei shook her head. "No. That's not mine. Check the label. It belonged to one of the kids who disappeared here fifteen years ago."  
  
"Kids disappeared here?!" Relena shrieked from behind Heero.  
  
Heero stepped away and began looking around the room. "Hn."  
  
Rei stopped her smile. (Don't give her a reason to hate you any more than she already does.) She suddenly realized Duo was staring at her. Well, not at her exactly... "Cut that out!" Rei hissed, swinging her books at him with one hand and tugging hopelessly at her skirt with the other. Duo's eyes snapped up to her face.  
  
He flashed his charming grin and looked away. Rei rolled her eyes. She looked around. (Should we go through that door or the other one? Plant exhibit or Atlantis?) Her eyes swept the room and realized with a small smile that Heero had Duo under what looked like a death glare. Duo smiled nervously and backed to the other side of the room. Rei smiled wider.  
  
Relena watched the little exchange from the doorway and crossed her arms, keeping her face carefully set in the diplomatic calm she had learned back in her home. Back in a world where no one tried to take her Heero.  
  
So, how was that chapter??? For those who are a little slow, yes, I did choose to put Rei with Heero. Oooo, and how is Relena going to come into play??? Just read the next chapter and find out! Oh, and I've also decided not to bring the other Scouts into the game. The spotlight's all for Rei. Well, guess that's it... review me! 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Rei sighed. (Now I remember why I only played this game once after I beat it, it's so slow...) She looked around, making sure she hadn't forgot anything. She was in the plant room, a dark, small closet of an exhibit with fake interpretations of deadly vines and herbs scattered around on either of the two large altars on each side of the room. The boys were carefully avoiding the far altar after Rei's warning of an ash Ixupi. (Let's see... I got the jar from the shelf, is there anything else?) "That's it," She called. "The Atlantis room's next." She spun around, giving her skirt a tug after a cold draft aired up her back. (Stupid skirt.)  
  
Relena waited with Quatre and Trowa in the Ancient Animals room. Relena was looking very dejected, no surprise after Duo had cheerfully suggested she do something useful and hold the books. Relena had dropped the books on the fish showcase.  
  
Rei walked nonchalantly out of the room and made her way around the mountain of sticks that made up the griffin nest and stopped. (There were supposed to be creatures in the Atlantis exhibit, I should remind the guys.) "Hey, there should be those-"  
  
"We know." Wufei said shortly.  
  
Rei stepped back. "I need to get something, um..."  
  
"We will take care of the enemies. Relena, go with Rei." Heero commanded, glancing at Relena.  
  
"But, why?" Relena protested.  
  
"It will keep you out of the way, now go." Wufei almost snapped.  
  
Relena flinched, but obeyed, practically storming out of the room. Rei looked at Heero a moment and followed. Heero returned the look and pulled out his gun and turned to the Atlantis door as Rei closed the outside door behind her.  
  
She looked across the room to see Relena marching up the steps to the library. "We're going up there in a minute, but we have to get a brochure here first." Rei walked in the opposite direction to a small work desk in the corner of the lobby and opened a drawer. Pulling out a pamphlet, she leafed through it stopping on the inside page that had a small chart of colored skulls and exhibit names on it. She smiled and stood up, looking over at a very impatient Relena waiting on the library stairs.  
  
Rei took her time walking over, glancing over at her discarded high heels and smiling vaguely at the idea of hitting Relena over the head with them. (Stop it, Rei. You have no real reason to hate her. Except that she's a snobby little-)  
  
"Are you going to make it over here today?" Relena snapped.  
  
"We need something else first." Rei growled, turning into the office. Relena didn't follow.  
  
Rei ignored the faint music drifting from the fireplace and went over to the bulletin board. There were a few newspaper clippings tacked onto a large map. Rei looked it over before snatching a pen and scrap of paper from the desk behind her and copying the longitude and latitude of a small symbol circled in green.  
  
"Are you done yet?" Relena called from the lobby.  
  
Rei double checked the coordinates and folded up the paper. She looked down. (Great. No pockets.) After a few moments hesitation and a few exasperated sighs from outside, Rei tucked the small pen and paper inside the white fabric stretched across her chest. (Oh well. They do it in the movies.)  
  
She stepped carefully out of the room and looked up for Relena. The girl was still standing on the steps and was casting Rei a particularly irritating, condescending look.  
  
Rei rolled her eyes and brushed past her up the stairs.  
  
Inside the library, Rei made her way carefully around the table. She glanced back and resisted a laugh. Relena stood angrily in the doorway, arms crossed and a scowl etched into her face. Rei looked back at the ladder she had almost gone up earlier. (Can't believe we forgot to go up and get the talisman.) She started up the ladder and was suddenly grateful Heero had stopped her earlier. (This would give little braided jerk a nice look up my-)  
  
"Would you hurry up!" Relena commanded from the doorway.  
  
Rei suppressed her retort, but slowed her ascent a little, just to spite the little wench. Once at the top, Rei looked around at the small bookshelf. (Good, no creatures. Now, where's that talisman?) She shifted her weight and saw the large, white marble statue behind her, rising like a marble angel against the wall. Rei looked up at her for a moment before reaching over to the base of the statue. There was a sudden explosion of gunfire and Rei started, almost losing her balance.  
  
She looked back at the library below and saw Relena not looking at her, but with her back turned, staring out into the lobby. Rei turned back to her work and slid open a panel in the statue's base. Inside rested a small bull's head, coppery mud colored like all the other jars and talismans.  
  
Snatching it up, Rei held it to her chest and carefully made her way down the ladder. She looked down and realized that she was right above the spot where Heero had shot that first creature. (It's gone...) Nothing remained of the body but a very faint dusting of ash.  
  
Rei hopped down and felt with a burst of sense that the talisman she held against her chest was cold. It sent a line of goose-bumps down her arms and she held it a bit away from her chest. "We should get back now." Rei said absently to Relena, sliding around her through the door.  
  
"Don't order me around!" Relena cried indignantly. Suddenly finding a store of anger, Relena grabbed Rei's arm, causing her to spin around, almost dropping the talisman. "And another thing. Stay away from my Heero. Don't think I can't see through you, you little tramp. I know you're trying to do, and you are mot going to steal him away from me. He and I have something special and you can't break that."  
  
Rei sneered and twisted her arm easily out of Relena's grip. "And I'm happy for you. But I couldn't care less about 'your Heero'. All I want is to get out of here and back home, which seems is going to take a while if you don't stop acting like a jealous brat and grow up some." With that, Rei spun around and walked with as much dignity as she could, back to the Ancient Animals room.  
  
As she stepped through the doors, a strange music reached her ears. She walked forward, looking around for its source. A snort marred the tranquility of the instant. "Didn't you say something about music meaning danger?" Rei turned around at Relena's once again, condescending voice. "Why are you just walking into it? Shouldn't we wait for the guys?"  
  
Rei shook her head and turned back around, still following the music. It drifted from the open Atlantis doors. Rei peered in and noticed three spots of dust on the short set of stairs in front of her. The boys were at the far end of the hall. Across the floor was an enlarged version of the map she had seen in the office, with columns lining each side of the hall, leaving about four feet of room to the wall. Further down, there was a large, green-ish stone face turned out from the wall it was attached to, like a door. Behind the face was a round chamber, covered in blue, underwater murals of sirens and mermaids. There was a panel on the far wall as well.  
  
Rei paused at the bottom of the steps, listening to the beautiful music. (It sounds like a piano or something...)  
  
She walked down the hall. She smiled and leaned against the open stone face-door. There was a small piano against the wall and Quatre was sitting in front of it and playing wonderfully.  
  
Suddenly, a booming, deep voice echoed through the hall. "Welcome to Atlantis."  
  
The music abruptly stopped and there were several clicks as the boys unlocked their guns and trained it on the entrance. Rei dropped to the ground to avoid being shot. The voice continued. "For decades, the mystery of Atlantis has perplexed the world."  
  
Rei stood up and growled, recognizing the voice. Relena stood at the top of the stairs, crushing herself against the wall. The deep voice continued to echo through the hall. Rei dropped her head into her hands. "You pushed the button, didn't you?" She asked irritably.  
  
"So? You didn't say anything about these buttons." Relena cried indignantly.  
  
"All they do is give an introduction to each room. True they're not dangerous..." Rei trailed off, her eyes going to the ceiling in annoyance.  
  
"Relena, from now on. Do not touch anything." Heero commanded, tucking his handgun back into its invisible holster.  
  
The voice stopped booming. Rei almost felt sorry for Relena with her now crestfallen expression, and looked at Heero, asking silently if he could do something.  
  
Heero looked up and, seeing Rei's expression, responded negatively with a slight jerk of his head. Rei pursed her lips and looked back up at Relena, but instantly regretted it, as she was now marching down the steps, giving Rei a very fine death glare.  
  
Rei rolled her eyes. (Why did I just feel sorry for her?)  
  
Relena continued down the hall and stopped right next to Heero, as if sending a silent message to Rei. Rei ignored it and looked over their shoulders at Quatre.  
  
"That song was beautiful. Where did you learn to play like that?"  
  
Quatre shrugged his lithe shoulders. "I picked it up a while ago."  
  
Duo leaned over to Rei and spoke to her behind his hand, but letting his voice carry to the others. "Quatre's and arist-o-crat. He can play anything."  
  
Quatre hid his embarrassed smile and simply shrugged once more.  
  
"Was that door supposed to open?" Trowa asked quietly, waving a hand to indicate the stone face Rei was leaning on.  
  
Rei stepped up and looked into the dark doorway in the wall. "Yes, did you all figure that out?"  
  
Wufei nodded curtly. "It was fairly obvious. The panel plays a song and even gives the notes, and there just happens to be a piano nearby. Quatre played the song, and that thing opened."  
  
Rei nodded and closed her eyes. "Alright. Seems like you guys aren't brain-dead after all." Her eyes opened and snapped to Duo whose eyes also snapped away from where they shouldn't have been. "At least most of you aren't." She looked over and concealed a smile as Relena glared at Heero, who was staring Duo down. "Well, I have one more thing to do in here..." Rei said loudly, changing the subject.  
  
She walked over to the statue of the god Poseidon, who sat on a stone crest of waves near the bottom of the steps. He held an orb in his and there were several rings attached to it, each intersecting one secured by a small red button.  
  
"Now what were the coordinates..." Rei muttered and reached into the fabric of the top of her shirt and pulled out the slip of paper. There was a muffled growl from the other side of the hall and Rei looked over to see Relena trembling with anger and the other boys suddenly finding the room they were in very interesting. Rei looked at them strangely. (What?) All of them, even Heero, had a slight tinge of red coloring their faces. (What happened?) Then it hit her. She clenched her jaw and opened the paper with more force than necessary. (Immature...)  
  
She read the coordinates over again and searched the sphere for the right button. The others came silently up behind her, all but Duo staying a bit behind her. Duo, however, leaned up and peered over her shoulder, at something a little different than the paper she was holding. After an annoyed glance and a hard elbow, Duo backed away a few steps. Holding his ribs.  
  
He pulled in a few steady breaths. "Whew. You got a lot of power there..."  
  
Rei hesitated, looking for an answer. "I, I work out." She averted her gaze back to the sphere. "Here it is!" She smiled and pushed a particular button. A small platform, about a foot wide circle rose out of the floor.  
  
"What is it?" Quatre asked politely.  
  
"It's the coordinates for Atlantis, the real one. They were up in the office and you have to find them on this ball for the Atlantis on this floor map to come up." Rei calmly explained. "Inside the platform, there are floor maps and a jar." Rei frowned. (Another jar.) She looked down at the talisman in her hands. "You can go look at them if you want. I think we're going to need a bag or something. We have to keep these jars and talismans together."  
  
"There was a shoulder-bag in the office. I'll go with you." Heero said, stepping away from Relena.  
  
"You don't-" Rei protested, not wanting to make Relena hate her more.  
  
"You shouldn't be out there alone." Heero commanded and led the way from the room.  
  
Rei stood for a second and passed the talisman in her hand to Relena quickly and quickened after Heero. She didn't see the fierce look Relena burned into her back.  
  
Once outside in the lobby, Rei risked a conversation. "Heero, we should talk."  
  
"Relena is neither my girlfriend nor my wife nor anything else she may have told you." Heero explained shortly.  
  
Rei held up her hands as though keeping her hands out of it. "She only told me that you two 'have a special bond'." Rei snorted. "Like I care."  
  
Heero stopped and looked at her. Rei looked back, suddenly regretting what she had said.  
  
Heero looked back to the door in front of them. He calmly pushed it open and stepped inside. Rei swallowed heavily and followed.  
  
They looked around for a second, until Heero grunted and tossed over a large, black shoulder bag. "Hn."  
  
Rei caught it and opened it. "Papers, newspaper...nothing important." She overturned it and dumped the lot on the floor. "This'll work." She threw it over her shoulder and noticed with a slight tinge that when she walked with it on her shoulder, the bag chafed against her legs. She frowned.  
  
Heero passed her on the way out and paused next to her. "I can take that." He took the bag from her shoulder and slung it across his own. Rei's eyes stayed on his back as he walked out the door and stopped a second, waiting for Rei to follow.  
  
So how was that chapter? One of my longer ones I would have to say... Well, I hope you liked it. I tried to deepen the feelings a little, but still keep the characters...well, in character. Well, let me know how this was, review!!!!!!!! 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Trowa's P.O.V.  
  
Trowa looked over Quatre's shoulder at the floor plans they had found in the floor platform.  
  
"These are some pretty amateur layouts..." Duo muttered.  
  
Quatre nodded in agreement. "This person's handwriting is terrible. Oh, here. Atlantis. We must be here. It seems like there is a staircase inside that stone door." He brought the next page to the front. "Maze? There's a maze down there?"  
  
"Rei did say the museum was mostly puzzles." Trowa added quietly.  
  
"Hey, what are those dark spots around the maze?" Duo asked, pointing to several black spots scattered through the blank area of the maze.  
  
Quatre shrugged and moved to the third page of the plans. "Hmmm."  
  
"More of the dark spots." Wufei observed, leaning on the thin, blue paper. Indeed there were more spots dotted around in variously named exhibits on the second floor. "Ink spots?" He asked suspiciously.  
  
"Maybe, but I doubt it. See, here are rooms that are drawn with that ink, not the white pencil, like these other rooms. Who would use black ink on this blue architect paper?" Quatre looked up at the others.  
  
"An amateur." Wufei said bluntly.  
  
"Still, is seems sorta suspicious to me..." Duo commented.  
  
Wufei snorted loudly. "I am surprised you still have the ability to think after how many times you've-"  
  
"Now is not the time to argue..." Quatre said soothingly.  
  
"But Duo does have a point. Something is not right about this diagram." Trowa straightened and looked back at the stone face, which stared into the back room solemnly.  
  
"We'll ask Rei about it." Quatre resolved, rolling up the floor plans and standing up.  
  
There was a distinct sniff from the other side of the hall. They looked over to see a ruffled Relena leaning casually against a pillar. "'Let's ask Rei!' 'We'll ask Rei!'" She mimicked them in a high voice. "You would think she was some kind of goddess or something, the way you all treat her." She rolled her eyes. "The spots are probably just some stupid architect who couldn't find his pencil and got lazy." She tightened her arms together and looked away. "You don't have to go running to her with every little detail."  
  
Trowa looked down at Quatre, who still knelt on the floor. "She has a point." Quatre said loudly, obviously trying to avoid more conflict. He stood up with the papers and the jar in hand. "We should go out to the other room to wait for Rei and Heero." He said and started down the hall.  
  
Trowa looked after him for a second. (Rei doesn't need to know every detail.) And he followed Quatre.  
  
Rei's P.O.V.  
  
Heero stepped into the Ancient Animals room, closely followed by Rei.  
  
"Looks like you found a suitable bag." Quatre observed.  
  
"Hn." Heero dropped the bag off his shoulder and handed it to Relena. "Put the books in."  
  
Relena hesitated a moment, but complied. She silently swept the books, the two talismans and the four jars into the bag. She zipped it up and handed it to Heero, who took it with out hesitation. Rei mentally recounted what they could be forgetting. (We've gotten so many parts of the game already. Maybe this won't take as long as I thought.)  
  
Duo looked back and forth between Heero and Rei and cleared his throat loudly. "I hate to bust somebody's bubble, but having that bag around might, um, interfere with Heero's taking out of those zombie things." He put his hands on the back of his head and looked away. "Just a thought."  
  
Heero nodded and slung the bag carefully to the floor. "We don't know the objectives of these creatures. So far they have been in or around every room there has been a jar or talisman in it. Rei cannot keep the bag; if these creatures go for it and take her out, we lose the only guide to the game that we have; and none of us can carry it, because it would, as Duo said, interfere with how we protect the girls."  
  
"So the only option we have is." Trowa trailed off and the group looked over at Relena.  
  
She looked around and opened her mouth. "You can't be serious! You want me to carry that stupid bag around this place, like someone's caddy?!" She shrieked, losing her calm in the moment.  
  
The room was silent as everyone's eyes stayed on Relena.  
  
She suddenly regained her composure and smoothed her skirt. She glanced at the bag and, looking around at the grim faces around her, picking it up and hung it across her shoulder.  
  
Rei felt her sympathy for the girl again. (It's not my fault I've done this game before.) She looked away. (Concentrate, Rei, you still have to get them out of here. Once we're out, everyone's life can go back to the way it was.) Her eyes felt suddenly drawn to Heero. (Once I go back home, he'll be gone. No, stop that. We have work to do. Come on.) Rei straightened. "I think that's all we need down here. If everyone's ready, we should go upstairs now."  
  
The boys nodded in unison, and Relena adjusted the bag and stood up straight. "Up those spiral stairs then?" Relena asked, almost cheerfully.  
  
Rei nodded, smiling. (Maybe she's warmed up to me now...) "Yeah. I'm pretty sure we're done down here, for now anyway."  
  
Rei looked around, and receiving now further answer, turned and opened the door to the lobby and walked out quickly. She looked up the stairs and stopped as the boys gestured that they would go first. She nodded and fell in step at the back of the group, marching up the stairs next to the completely-calm Relena.  
  
So, how was this chapter? Really soon, and really short, and no romance I know, but I had this sudden inspiration and a few new events just popped into my head. I tried to give the guys more of a part and I'm trying to keep them in character as well as involved. But I would like your opinion on a few things. Should I make Relena evil? I did that in one of my other stories, and it seemed to go well, but I'm not sure. Next, do you think I should have a high, master villain in this, or just a slightly lesser baddie, but with a few twists attached? I really want your opinions on this. I may write these stories for me, but I post them for you, so (at least in my opinion) the people who read my stories should let me know of their ideas. If you don't want to share your ideas, then well, don't. Anyway, I know it's been said, but... review me! 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Rei stood, somewhat impatiently, behind the boys as they creaked open the stone-looking door with the strange yellow symbol painted across the front. (Stop fidgeting, this is for your own good. They take care of the monsters...) Rei frowned. "What's the matter?" She called to the guys who had already ventured into the room, but surprisingly, had not fired a single shot.  
  
Relena titled her head in the door to see no creatures, only five silent boys creeping around in the large room. Rei titled her head in by Relena's and was suddenly surprised by the size of the Egyptian exhibit. (It never looked this big in the computer...) The room was easily as large as the lobby, with an extensive stone ceiling and walls covered with wallpaper of deep green palm leaves. Off to one side was a large doorway carved out, leading to a room with ancient-looking, though not very Egyptian, murals painted above a row of spiked stands standing against the round walls of the side room. On her left side was a magnificent set of stone steps leading to a stone panel door. There were small statues of Anubis, the dog god, at each stair. To the far side of the room were more murals, this time of Egyptian figures, covering the wall. The chamber had a small corridor turning away from the rest of the room on the far wall. Rei straightened and took a step inside, looking down the room at the side corridor. (I remember what's back there...) Around the corner there was a sarcophagus with another jar. And past that there was a small shrine where the cloth Ixupi sometimes resided.  
  
Taking another step into the room, Rei looked around her at the room and sighed. (How much longer do I have to be stuck in this game...) Her eyes suddenly went to Heero, and, for a reason unknown to her, her eyes stayed on him. She traveled down to his thin shoulders, and further to his strangely thin, but well defined arms. Stopping herself before she went any lower, Rei's eyes suddenly snapped to his slightly angled face, his unruly brown hair, and cold blue eyes searching the shadows for the beasts roaming the museum. Prussian blue orbs suddenly met with violet ones and Rei snapped her head away.  
  
(Did he see me staring at him? Why was I staring? It's not like he's attractive, or...) Rei felt drawn back to him and she saw him looking back at her. There was a brief register of surprise across his face before Heero turned back to the corridor he was looking down.  
  
Rei raised her hand a bit. "There's-" All eyes suddenly focused on her. Rei cleared her throat and pointed back to the corridor. "In the back room, there's a pile of clothes where the cloth Ixupi sometimes is. Oh!" She blinked, remembering what else was down that hall. She trotted over next to Heero, belatedly aware of her skirt bouncing with each step. She carefully kept her eyes away from his and stepped up to the sarcophagus, turning her gaze to the columns on each side. Each column was separated into three sections, an Egyptian character on every section, a single symbol on all of the four sides of the columns. Rei sighed. "Last time I did this, I had to figure the symbols out on my own; I never remembered to go back and get that book from the professor's body... Where's Relena?" Rei looked up.  
  
Relena stood behind Heero, practically against him, and flicked her hair behind her shoulder as a response. "Present." She spat. Rei had the sudden feeling Relena had seen her watching Heero.  
  
Duo, Quatre, and Trowa all stood at her back, but Wufei, who was in front of her, next to Heero, looked back at her irritably. "She needs the book." He cut himself short, not daring to give her the name he reserved for most other women. He glanced at Heero and was vaguely surprised to see him watching Rei indifferently, seemingly not even paying attention.  
  
"Give her the book, Relena." Heero commanded in his usual monotonous voice.  
  
Relena scowled, but reaching into the shoulder bag anyway. Pulling out the muddied book, she tossed it to Rei with a little more force than necessary.  
  
Rei snatched it from the air and tried not to glare back at Relena. (Can't even throw straight...) She opened the book carefully and flipped through the pages, half-aware that they were staring at her intensely again. (Creepy, creepy, creepy...) She smiled to herself as she found the page with the names of two specific pharaohs. Licking her lips, she moved to the first column and pushed each of the three segments around, revolving them around the column, until the symbols matched the ones on the book. "And for the second one..." She muttered, moving to the second column, waiting a second until Wufei paid attention to what she was doing and leaned off of it. Once again moving the symbols, Rei stepped back as she slid the final symbol into place.  
  
There was a grinding sound as the lid slid away and a sudden flash of black brought a jarring burst of gunfire. Rei gasped as the black flash dropped to the ground as yet another creature.  
  
She sighed softly and was suddenly very aware of an arm fixed around her waist and something firm and unyielding against her back. She stared down at the corpse as the realization hit her that the article against her back was Heero's chest. She tilted her face to see him tucking his gun back into the unseen holster at his belt. He looked up at her.  
  
The world seemed to go silent in that one moment and got the faint sensation of falling. (Does he do this on purpose...)  
  
An irritated sigh came from somewhere. Rei snapped awake to see a very agitated Relena standing with her hands on her hips, all but glaring at Rei. Rei glanced around to see the others, seeming to tuck away their own weapons, but not entirely hiding their own stares of slight shock. Stepping back, she slid Heero's arm away, casting him a somewhat uncomfortable sideways look.  
  
"Shouldn't we be moving on?" Relena growled.  
  
Rei looked back at the sarcophagus. "Just have to get the jar..."  
  
Duo grinned widely and held up the rust colored figure. This one had webbed claws protruding from the bottom and a spiked opening across the top. He somewhat eagerly tossed it to Relena, who caught it awkwardly. "Well, let's move it!" He shot his hand in the air excitedly.  
  
Rei shook her head slowly. (Does this guy ever get down?)  
  
Suddenly, there was another loud, grinding noise and several guns darted out. Rei dropped to the ground immediately, this time, followed by Relena. There was an incoherent shout and a few low curses, but no gunshots. Rei looked up and hid her smile.  
  
Quatre and Trowa were at the top of the steps, next to the open panel door at the top. Each was pressed against the wall, holding up open palms. Rei stood up and let out a short laugh. "Looks like you opened the door to the next room!" She shouted to the pair, calming them an iota.  
  
Quatre lowered his hands and shrugged slowly. "I saw the puzzle on the door and figured we would eventually have to solve it anyway..." He trailed off, looking away with a hint of guilt.  
  
They stood silently at the top of the steps while the rest of the group sauntered slowly up the stairs. As Heero, Wufei, Duo passed into the small corridor, Trowa hesitating, but following behind down the narrow set of stairs, Rei cast Quatre a soft smile. "Hey. Thanks for getting that puzzle. You saved us a ton of time." She flashed a reassuring smile again.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure you didn't mean to frighten anyone!" Relena said brightly from a step away from Rei, showing her own enthusiastic smile.  
  
Quatre half-smiled uneasily and stepped off down the stairs. Rei looked after him a moment before following, a vaguely downtrodden Relena behind her. Rei had the feeling that Relena's words of encouragement didn't quite have the effect she had wanted.  
  
Rei halted at a few steps above the landing on the stairs as the sound of growling and a short scuffle reached her ears. A sharp gunshot silenced the room once again. Rei leaned around the corner. Heero looked at her a moment and nodded. She nodded back and trotted down the steps, silently in her thin white socks. Relena followed still, but went right for Heero, once she stepped off the stairs.  
  
Rei didn't bother to roll her eyes, instead looked around, seeing this particular room from a different perspective than on her computer. It was very dim, casting everything with a blue, green tint. Directly to her left was a small, Norse burial ship, only about five feet in length, but complete with the appropriate shields, hammers and skulls. Across from that was a small hut, nondescript, except that it housed yet another cloth Ixupi hiding place. Beside that, was a less homey display; this one was of a full skeleton lying on a bed of sticks, elevated about six feet from the floor by four wooden poles, one placed at each corner of the bed. There was a wooden lion coffin between this and a very ornate red door. One the opposite side of this door was a tray neatly piled with ceremonial ashes, set closely next to a large, fierce-looking, wooden bear.  
  
"Cozy, isn't it?" Duo muttered sarcastically.  
  
Rei stepped behind him. "It's the rites of burial room. Don't get nervous, I think there's only one other room creepier than this..." She patted his back and turned around, looking over the room once more.  
  
"Well, don't you worry, Rei..." Duo continued suggestively. "You'll have me to comfort you..." He gave a small tug on the back of her skirt for emphasis.  
  
In an instant, Rei had him by the wrist and twisted his arm upwards. She smiled smugly. "I can comfort myself, thanks." She blinked slowly and, still smiling, released his arm.  
  
Duo pulled back, cradling his arm. "Geez, with a grip like that, you could take out these creatures yourself..."  
  
Rei kept her smile but said nothing. She raised her voice to address all of them. "There's only a talisman in this room, but it's going to take a while to get it. Unless anyone here knows how to beat a game called Hi- Q?" She looked around hopefully, but sighed into the silence she received. "Well, there's an African witch doctor exhibit on the other side of that door, but nothing in there now." She waved her hand vaguely. "If you want to go check it out..."  
  
"We will." Heero said firmly and nodded. He brushed past her, giving Rei the same sidelong look she had given him earlier.  
  
Rei tried not to meet Relena's eyes as the last of the boys passed into the next room. "Should take care of that puzzle..." Rei muttered more to herself than to Relena. Kneeling down next to the bear, Rei dug her fingernails into an indent in the base, smiling with satisfaction when a small drawer slid out. Inside the drawer was a small board with a series of indents in it, at least 45 of them. There were oriental markings around the holes, which were arranged in a cross, a block of 9 holes, 3 by 3, in the center, with a single red framed hole in the center of that block, and another block of 9 on each side, shaping a cross of green background against the red markings. There was a small, red oval button at the base of the cross.  
  
Rei sighed heavily as she pressed it. (Going to be here for a while.) There was a suction noise and small red marbles popped up into each of the holes, all except the center red hole. Picking up a marble, she skipped it over the one in front of it and landed it in the red center. The marble she skipped over disappeared with a clink. Biting her lip, she picked up another one and skipped it into the empty hole create by the one she had just skipped. She continued skipping the marbles around, clearing others away into the board until she had only three left. They were on opposite ends of the board. Rei sighed as she pressed the button again, replacing all of the marbles to their original positions. (Definitely a long while.)  
  
She suddenly recalled a frightening memory. "Relena, don't go in that coffin next to you."  
  
"Why not?" Relena responded haughtily.  
  
Rei considered how Relena would react to the fact that she had been standing next to a dead body for the past five minutes. "Just trust me."  
  
Relena looked over at Rei, crouched scandalously on the floor in her disgracefully short skirt. (She must be some sort of a hooker to wear something like that! Who else would be comfortable wearing such a thing?!) Relena glanced away as Rei sighed heavily and arranged herself in a more comfortable sitting position. The tiny clinks resumed. Relena didn't want to bother with the childish marble game. Her eyes went down to the bag slung over her shoulder. (So she plays games while I am stuck carrying this bag...) Her eyes drew to the decorated red door leading to where her Heero and the others were. (And what is she doing to Heero? How does she manage to get his arms around her?!) Relena glared at the lion coffin next to her, refusing to remember that Heero had never held her, leaned on her maybe, but never held. (Don't let that girl get to you. Just keep calm and wait until they say it's clear.) Relena frowned. (And then what? Will we just keep following her orders until...until what? She leads us into a trap, or any number of nasty things? She could be an enemy for all we know!) Relena glanced back at Rei, sitting cross-legged on the ground, still toying with the marble game. (I will not take orders from this, this....) She searched her mind for a name that would sum up her anger but found none. An irritated sigh to her right, brought Relena's attention back fully on Rei.  
  
Rei looked up to see Relena staring at her. "Do you want to try?" She asked as politely as she could.  
  
"No."  
  
Rei blinked and shrugged her shoulders. "Okay then..." She turned back to the board. (What are those guys doing in there? It's not that big of a room...)  
  
Suddenly, a short creak an ear-splitting scream of fear jarred Rei to her feet. A blur fell by her and Rei realized what had happened just before Relena's arm hit the table of ashes and sent them spraying. All over Rei.  
  
Rei vaguely heard a door slam open and several audible curses. She opened her eyes slowly, not remembering she when had closed them. The room was completely still. Heero and Wufei stood in the door, guns drawn, the others behind them, looking on the scene with equal surprise. Relena sat at Rei's feet, fallen to the ground after stumbling into the ash tray, slightly dusted, but fine. Across the small room, was an open lion coffin, with a crumpled, burnt corpse lying inside, its mouth stretched open in silent horror at some invisible being. Rei looked down at herself. Her arms were covered in ash that slid across her skin to the floor as she moved. She felt her skirt. The back was also covered in ash, along with the backs of her legs. Rei turned her head slowly, letting her hair fall in her face. The rest of her hair rustled as piled of more ash dropped to the floor. She drew her arm slowly around to pull the rest of her hair into view. Her locks of spotless ebony were now covered in the sparkling dust.  
  
The sight seemed to drain Rei, the sight of ashes, the ashes of some dead person, scattered all over her, pulled part of her mind back to reality. "Relena, there's a corpse in that coffin." She said quietly.  
  
Relena stood silently and looked away. "You didn't say-"  
  
"I said not to look in there and to just trust me on it." Rei growled, her anger growing as she began to brush herself off.  
  
Heero suddenly appeared at her side, clicking his gun back into place, brushing his free hand over Rei's hair, dusting the ash away.  
  
The others watched from the doorway, seeing what was happening and giving the appropriate space.  
  
Relena, however, fumed silently a few feet away from the pair, watching as the pair gradually dropped the mountain of dust to the ground. (She's openly flirting with him! Heero! Don't you see what she's doing?! Glancing at you every five seconds, trying to catch your eye, bumping hands... Heero, why don't you see?!) Relena took a deep breath and tried to retain the diplomatic calm she had worked so hard to master. But her mind continued to rage. (Heero, just stop falling into her traps! I know you're smarter than this!)  
  
Rei looked down at herself, making sure she had gotten it all off. Heero's hands stopped dusting her and she turned around to face him. "Thanks..." She said quietly.  
  
"Are you okay?" He asked firmly.  
  
Rei nodded. "It was just ash." Rei suddenly felt that falling sensation again and realized she was staring at him. (But why can't I look away...) In the silence around her, Rei heard and felt her heart slamming in her chest and the part of her mind that was still functioning wondered if they could see her heart pounding against the thin fabric.  
  
"I think she's clean now. We should go." A very familiar voice commanded from somewhere away from the icy blue eyes that seemed to command Rei's entire field of sight. They snapped away and she fell back to reality.  
  
The voice belonged to a very agitated Relena standing a very heated two feet away. Anger suddenly pushed into Rei's mind, but she suppressed it. (Stop it, Rei. Just stop. You are going to have to deal with this priss for a while yet; don't make her hate you more than necessary.) And before she could stop the thought, (Just make sure she's not around when you do that again.)  
  
So....how was that? Sorry this chapter is so late; I had my very first real writer's block. I had totally no idea what to do with this story! Which is kind of unusual, considering with all of my other stories I have always had at least something of an idea how things will develop. Well, I really hope you like this chapter; I must say I must an abnormal amount of effort into it! Maybe if I get enough reviews for this chapter I'll consider doing it all the time... (wink wink) Heh, just kidding, I think I'll try to get back into the habit of writing longer chapters anyway; I'm getting out of practice. Oh, yeah and I want you all to check out jasmine starlight's work, she's a friend of mine and a really good writer. And to Lady Tomoyo, thanks for reviewing all of my stories, even One Summer Day, I really appreciate it. And to everyone else who has been faithfully reviewing me, hugs, kisses and baby kittens to you all! Keep it up! ^_^ 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
They had all made it back down to the lobby, and Rei was leaning against the broken showcase, considering the next move. (We need to go up there... But we still need those.... Where next?) Rei sighed. "This is going to take too long if we stay together." She stated to the group.  
  
They looked up at her. "Split up?" Quatre looked around. "Is that such a good idea?"  
  
Rei shrugged. "I don't think we have much of a choice. If we stay together, doing one thing at a time, then we'll be in here for ages."  
  
"What do you suggest we do?" Trowa asked quietly.  
  
Rei sighed. "We split up. I'm pretty sure of what needs to be done as of now." She turned to Quatre. "Alright. You go in the auditorium. Up the left stairs in the back is a long hallway, on the first door you see, spin the dial to spell Geoffrey. You may have to try a few times to get the spelling right. Go up the stairs and fiddle around with the video controls you find up there until you see that witch doctor room you were just in. Somewhere on the screen should be a bunch on nonsense words. Write them down, and stay up there until everyone comes up."  
  
Quatre nodded. "Is that all?"  
  
Rei bit her tongue. "...Yeah."  
  
"Wait." Heero said loudly, and Quatre halted and turned back. Heero nodded to Relena. "Go with him."  
  
Relena, clearly reluctant to leave, shifted on her feet. "Are you sure I should leave?" She asked somewhat desperately.  
  
Heero nodded solemnly.  
  
Rei watched Relena as she reluctantly obeyed. (She looks so desperate not to be separated from Heero. I should do something to help...) "You don't have to carry that bag; I could, if you don't want-"  
  
"I can handle the bag..." Relena growled. She gave Rei one last glare before stalking off behind a very nervous Quatre.  
  
Rei watched her go. (Great. She's still pissed at me and now I'm stuck regretting I even said anything.)  
  
She shook her head to clear the thought and turned to Duo. He looked up at her perfectly calm. "What's my assignment?"  
  
Rei stopped and looked at him for a moment. "Assignment?"  
  
He smiled and shook his head. "Never mind. What do you want me to do?"  
  
Rei nodded. (Assignment...) "Your job is really important, but kind of long, so make sure you get it all. You and Trowa go in the office." She moved her arm and pointed at the door by the plant exhibit door. "There's a rug on the wall under it is a secret passage. In there is an elevator; you solve the puzzle and it will take you up to a bedroom. On the desk in that room is a journal that mentions several times of the day. Write them down and go to the bed stand. Get everything so far?"  
  
Trowa nodded. "Up the elevator, write the journal times from the desk."  
  
Rei nodded. "Now you go to the bed stand and look at the clock on it. Spin the little key to get to each of the times and remember the one that brings up a dragon's head on the clock. You'll know what I mean when you see it. Then just go up to the clock tower Quatre's headed for."  
  
They nodded in unison and trotted off towards the office door.  
  
Heero and Wufei glanced at each other before Wufei spoke up. "What are our mis... What do we do?"  
  
Rei hesitated before looking back at him. "In the auditorium, up the same stairs as Quatre and Relena went, you go down the hall and turn the corner. There's a set of stairs that lead to a movie room. You go up and into the room. Turn on the movie projector and it'll play this boring black-and- white movie down on the screen in the auditorium. Watch it and the guy will eventually reveal the way to open a secret door. Write the buttons down. You might have to watch it a few times to get them all." She shrugged. "Then just head up to the clock tower and wait for the others."  
  
Heero and Wufei nodded together and they turned to go. Heero glanced at Rei over his shoulder. "Where will you go?"  
  
She blinked. (Oh great. You forgot to find something for yourself.) "I'm..."  
  
"Coming with us." Heero finished. "You shouldn't be out alone."  
  
Rei opened her mouth then shut it. (He has a point.) "Okay."  
  
Duo's P.O.V.  
  
Duo looked around the torn apart office a second before glancing back at Trowa as he closed the door. "It feels weird."  
  
Trowa looked up. "What does?"  
  
Duo smiled and pulled up the blue, decorative rug hanging by the door. "It's like getting missions again."  
  
Trowa allowed a half smile as he pulled out his handgun. "Maybe."  
  
Duo cracked his knuckles before pulling out his own. "Only this time, we're getting orders from a babe in a hot red skirt and not an old guy in a lab coat." He yanked up the rug and thrust his gun underneath. Nothing happened. He grinned and knelt down. "Lucky us. No bad guys." But his smile fell when he saw the small opening under the rug, a small rectangle hole in the wall, no bigger than one by three feet. "I gotta fit through that?"  
  
Trowa emitted a short laugh before nimbly crawling through. "It's not that difficult."  
  
Duo groaned and managed to pull himself through, though with much difficulty. By the time he was up on the other side, Trowa was already working on the elevator puzzle, pressing the arrows along the side of the panel to move the small, grimacing green heads around. After a few short minutes, he had all of them lined up in a diagonal line and the icons spun once and chimed, opening the large, metal gray doors.  
  
"Here we go..." Duo muttered.  
  
They stepped inside and pressed the 'up' arrow next to the door. The elevator chimed and stopped. The door did not open. Duo tilted his head and looked at it. (What, are we stuck in this thing?) He turned to ask Trowa, but left his mouth open as he saw him walking out the door that had just opened behind them. (Duh.)  
  
There was a short hallway leading to a polished oak door. The hall looked as though it had once been decorated; there were several squares in the faded yellow wallpaper where something had once hung, most likely pictures. There were a few boxes here and there, but no place for a creature to hide.  
  
Trowa crept up to the door, Duo silent on his heels. The door swung open with a loud creak and two black blurs darted forward. Duo jumped aside as Trowa stepped back and both fired off at least three rounds. The corpse creatures dropped to the ground and promptly dissolved into ash.  
  
Duo looked at the small pool of dust and stepped around it, keeping his gun out and ready. The room wasn't small by any means, but was only a slight bigger than the office they had just left. There was a large bookcase covering one wall, loaded with books and various objects of interest. A medium sized trunk stood next to the door, an ornate crest covering the lock. The double bed looming on the other side of the room was draped with white sheets, matching the curtains of the single, barred window on the far wall. In front of the bookcase, the desk, covered in papers and books, was placed, squat and dull.  
  
Trowa was already sifting through the various books in the desk. "She didn't mention what the journal looked like.." He murmured quietly.  
  
Duo sighed. (I guess she didn't. Great, now we have to search for it.) He walked over and started to root through the papers himself, not bothering to be as careful as Trowa. He came to a small green book, buried under stacks of what looked like bills. He picked it up and looked at it. "Um..."  
  
Trowa picked it out of his hands and opened it. "Go to the clock, I'll tell you the times to put in."  
  
Duo blinked once, but complied, looking around the bed for the small clock Rei had told them of. He found it, right where it was supposed to be, on the nightstand on the far side of the bed. He knelt down and stared at the small thing. It seemed like a normal, if a bit ornamental, face clock, with gold hands and base with a small key locked into it, and a strange, miniature golden bull's head in an opening under the clock face. It was shielded by a glass cover that showed Duo's reflection as he watched it. He turned his head, looking at himself, and brushed a few loose strands of chestnut hair back into his braid.  
  
"5:30." Trowa read aloud, interrupting Duo's thoughts.  
  
(Oh, yeah.) He reached out and spun the key in the base once, leaning forward as the clock's hands spun rapidly, and the bull's head spun into the base and other head, moving too quickly to be identified, followed it. The clock finally stopped at 4:15, with a golden ram's head beneath it. "Try again..." He muttered and spun the key again. The clock whirled around again, this time stopping at 5:30, but with the bull's head. Duo turned his head and addressed Trowa. "Hey, wrong time."  
  
"I have another one. 3:45."  
  
Duo nodded and spun the key. It spun and landed on 8:20, with what looked almost like a fish head. (Yeah, a fish after some took it and beat it a few times...) He reached up and twisted the key again. (4:15 again... I'll be here forever...) "Not yet." He told Trowa, who he was well aware of standing over his shoulder. Duo twisted the key yet again and watched the tiny heads as they spun around the base, showing themselves for a second, then disappearing behind the side of the clock. It stopped, this time on 3:45. Duo stood up, grinning. The clock had landed on a dragon's head, baring its teeth and seeming to hiss at them.  
  
"The time is 3:45 then. Let's go." Trowa snapped the book shut and tossed it to the desk as he passed it towards the open door. Duo cast one last look around the room before he left. (Maybe after all this is over, Rei and me could come up here for a little investigating of our own...) He grinned mischievously. (Nah. I'm sure she'd end up 'investigating' with Heero...)  
  
Relena P.O.V.~~~~~~~~~  
  
Relena followed Quatre through the empty auditorium to the back stairs, reviewing and assessing every moment she had ever spent with Heero. (I always thought he liked me. I mean, he never insulted me, or brushed me off, or was cold to me... Well, he has brushed me off a few times, but he probably just needed some space! And it's his nature to be cold!) She bit her lip as she ascended the short stairs, the bag starting to rub against the backs of her legs. (And why has he been acting so strangely lately? He can't possibly be actually attracted to that whore... She's so obvious!) Relena ran her eyes along the ground, vaguely noting the dark blue carpet, half hidden in the dim light of the hall. A door opened and shut back in the auditorium, and Relena didn't turn around, even though she knew Rei would be there, walking. With her Heero.  
  
Quatre stopped silently at an oval shaped door with several rings centered on it. "Geoffrey..." He muttered. He squinted and could barely make out letters on each of the four sides of the rings. He nodded and started pushing them around, lining them up according to their letters. He heard footsteps and looked over to see Heero, Wufei and Rei walking up the steps. Heero nodded to Quatre, offering Relena a second glance, but she was busy glaring at Rei, no doubt upset that Rei was walking next to Heero. (She needs to calm down...) Quatre turned back to the door, and lined up the remaining rings. Quatre leaned forward and pushed on the door. He sighed and rearranged the rings. (Of course. It must be spelled Geofrey.) This time, the door creaked open on its own. A black shadow slithered along the wall and he barely managed to pull his gun out and catch the creature nearly three times in the head before it dropped in the doorway and disintegrated.  
  
Relena stayed back, watching Quatre work with only slight interest. She started at the gunfire but merely turned her head away as the creature fell. (That girl didn't even know about these beasts. How can we trust her to anything else?)  
  
Relena stared at Quatre's back as they trudged up the winding stone stairs, only glancing back every few minutes to make sure they weren't being followed. They passed a panel in the wall, a large squared hollow, lined with three chains. A fourth lay on the steps in front of them, broken off.  
  
After more than a few minute's walking, Relena was just about to say something when they came to a landing. It was particularly small, about half the size of the disheveled office on the other side of the museum. A short wooden ladder rose up from the floor to a trap door in the ceiling. Relena stepped forward, the bag swaying on her shoulder. "Ladies first..." She muttered absently, her upbringing getting the better of her for the moment.  
  
Quatre stepped up and put his hand on the ladder ahead of her. "Only if that lady happens to have a gun." He stated, giving her a vaguely respectful look before heading up the ladder himself. Pushing the trap door open forcefully, there was a brief snap of a bullet and Quatre continued up.  
  
"All clear..." He called, and Relena slowly made her own way up the ladder.  
  
The room above was sparsely furnished, with only a very old-looking jukebox in one corner and some sort of control panel, which Quatre was currently sitting in front of, turning a sort of joystick and pressing a button under one over the several miniature t.v. screens. Relena watched him for a second, before turning her head to the other side of the room, and caught her breath.  
  
There was a huge contraption set up, taking up an entire wall, though it looked not to be made of metal, but of the same clay the jars were of, with a few metal chains here and there. It had a large panel covering most of it, clay covered with intricate designs across it. There was a large bull's head next to the panel, also made of clay, with various gears and chains hooked together behind it. (What on earth is this thing?) Relena wondered, running her hands across the panel designs.  
  
Behind her, Quatre glanced over his shoulder to make sure Relena wasn't doing anything she shouldn't. (That panel doesn't look so very dangerous... Well, it shouldn't hurt. Now, to find the video of the witch doctor exhibit...) He pressed the button below the second screen and the video of a camera in the plant exhibit. He moved the joystick around, getting a view of the room from a new angle. Satisfied, he pressed the third button. This time, a nice view of a clock tower came up. (Well, at least we'll know what time it is, if that clock's even right.) He pressed the fourth button, the last on that side of the main screen. This time a dark cavern cam up. There was some sort of black river running through the middle of it, but in all other ways, was unremarkable. The fifth button, the first on his right side, came up with what he needed. The witch doctor's exhibit had lost the green tint he had seen in person, but looked almost the same from the high position of the camera. He moved the joystick to the left and stopped. (What is...)  
  
Written in neon green paint, with many splatters and lines, was written several letters, making no particular meaning or reason. He stared at them for a moment before realizing what they were. (Of course! These letters are just a combination of the letters we found on the drums in the exhibit!) He distinctly recalled the drums; Duo had wanted to play on them, but Heero refused to allow him. On the side of each of the four drums were 'Bo', 'Ti', 'Ka' and 'We', respectively. (We probably have to beat the drums in this order to... solve some puzzle, or something...) He looked at the inscription again. (TIKAKAWEBOKA...TIBOTIWEKAWETI.) He looked down and frowned. (No paper or pen...) He looked back at Relena. "Relena, do you have a pen and paper in that bag?"  
  
She turned away from the machine and opened the bag. "I don't know..." She rooted for a minute and came up with a blue pen and tossed it to him. "No paper."  
  
Quatre frowned. (We'll just wait until the others come up and tell them.)  
  
Heero's P.O.V. ~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Heero listened to Rei's soft footsteps behind him. (She doesn't have any shoes. No, those shoes out in the lobby were probably hers. Say something. No. Nothing to say.) But still, he slowed his pace to walk, not next to, but slightly ahead of Rei. He looked over at her. "Where do you come from?"  
  
Rei pulled her head up, surprised at his question. "Tokyo. You?"  
  
Heero hesitated. "The same."  
  
Rei closed her eyes for a slow moment and smiled slightly. "Now tell me where you're really from."  
  
Heero saw from the corner of his eye, Wufei tilt his head, listening, as he walked up the short set of stairs. Heero focused back on Rei. "Nowhere. I don't have much of a home."  
  
Quatre and Relena stood in front of the clock tower door; Heero nodded a greeting to Quatre and looked at Relena, who was busy glaring at Rei. Rei, who obviously noticed this, kept her eyes calmly ahead of her. (She remains calm even though Relena clearly despises her. Why does Relena act like this? Rei has proven herself to be useful and most likely not an enemy; she has been exceedingly helpful in making our way through the museum, yet Relena regards her as an enemy.) Heero suppressed a frown as they turned the corner, letting his eyes slide past Wufei, up to the stairs ahead of them. A door stood ominously at the top, light shining around it from the room inside.  
  
Three gunshots rang through the air and Heero felt his arm reach out as Rei whipped around in surprise. He managed to stop himself before he touched her, but Rei's silken ebony hair brushed his arm, and he held in a shiver. A few remaining traces of ash sparkled from the darkness. (She will have to wash that out...) A fleeting of Rei carrying out the act passed through his head and he pushed the thought away quickly. (Stop it.)  
  
Rei turned back around and Heero turned his attention to the stairs. Wufei was already at the top of them, looking back at Heero. It was too dark to see his face, but Heero had a slight thought that he had seen Heero's emotions pass unguarded across his face. Heero frowned. (Have to keep better control.)  
  
Rei stayed down at the bottom of the stairs, watching the two as the crept to the door, armed and ready. The door swung open and Heero stepped in, gun first. But there was nothing. The room was very small; two bookcases, lined with movie boxes, stood in front of the door, creating a small alley and a corner to turn, with an antique movie projector on the other side, a hole in the wall in front of it, allowing the sight of the movie screen in the auditorium, and a safe with a pile of movie rolls stacked on it in the nearest available corner, to his left. Giving the room a quick sweep, Heero bent his head back out the door. Rei stood faithfully at the bottom of the steps, looking perfectly innocent and pure in the soft light drifting from the open door. "Clear." He said softly, almost not expecting her to hear him.  
  
Still, she looked up, her lips drawing on the verge of a smile and she started up the stairs. She glanced at him as she passed, almost seeming to force her eyes away from his. Instead, her eyes swept the room, glancing around, taking the familiar room in. Wufei stood, watching the pair from the corner of his eye, leaning on the bookcase.  
  
Heero looked up, expecting him to say something, but Wufei stayed silent.  
  
Rei brushed around the bookcase and Wufei, but halted as he grabbed her arm. "That music you warned about is here."  
  
Rei blinked, then nodded, recalling the music that played when an Ixupi was too close. "It's in the pile of movies on the safe behind me. Just don't get too close and look at them." She smiled vaguely and pulled away.  
  
Wufei half turned his head and looked at Heero. (Hmmm...) "I will keep watch outside." He announced, opening the door, casting Heero a smug side look, and leaving him and Rei alone.  
  
Heero kept a straight face as Wufei shut the door. (He wants me to do something, but I can't. I won't. She is an ally, and we must keep our minds on the mission.) But as his eyes wandered to Rei, who was looking past him at the now-closed door, his mind wandered also. (No one is here. No one to see... Stop it now.) He swept past her, careful not to let them touch, lest he fall into another delusion.  
  
There were two buttons next to the movie projector, one red, and the other green. He felt more than heard Rei walk up next to him. His hands tightened on the table edge as her hair brushed against him. (Her hair again... Why is it so soft? Why can't I think straight? Stop dwelling on this. Now.) His legs, almost moving on their own, took a small step away from Rei, and he watched her reaction carefully. (She didn't even notice...)  
  
Rei looked down at the button. "We should start this now." She whispered. Heero's hand darted forward and almost punched the button. Rei kept her eyes carefully away from his. (Is he angry? What did I do?) She kept her frown precisely hidden.  
  
The gray screen in the auditorium came to life and the dull, black numbers spun across the screen, counting down to the movie.  
  
"For countless years, ancient civilizations have hidden their secrets..." Rei absently tuned out the deep, droning voice of the announcer as pictures of ancient relics passed across the screen. (Oh, paper...) Rei brushed her sides, forgetting she had no pockets. (Well, Heero's mature enough...) Rei lifted her hands, half studying Heero's expression out of the corner of her eye and pulled the folded piece of paper from the front of her shirt.  
  
Heero carefully studied the movie playing on the screen, but Rei's movement to her sides distracted him. (She's probably looking for paper...) He kept his eyes on the screen, suddenly feeling his heart jump as her hands lifted to the front of her dress. (God no...) He felt his full attention pull to her as she slowly dipped her hand down her shirt. He could have sworn his heart stopped. Rei pulled her hand away, the folded piece of paper held between two fingers.  
  
(He's practically staring at me! Come on Heero, not that big of a deal...)  
  
(She did it again... Is she trying to distract me?)  
  
(He's still staring... Just look away. Look like you're concentrating and he'll forget about it.) Rei turned her head away, back to the movie screen through the hole in the wall and feigned interest. (Just don't meet his eyes and you'll be fine.)  
  
Heero felt his eyes fix to her hair once again. (Does she even know what she does to me?) He looked away. (No. The others too. Duo is attracted to this girl as well, but why am I affected so much?) He frowned at the question. (Why?) The sound of scribbling brought his attention back to Rei. On the screen, a gray, heavy set man was pushing in certain portions of a wall behind him. (It must be the secret passage Rei spoke of.) He wondered for a moment where she got the pen, but shut the thought away quickly. (Keep your mind on the mission.) The heavy professor took off his bowler hat and bid a friendly farewell to his audience, and Rei straightened.  
  
Turning to Heero, Rei kept her eyes firmly in the paper. "I think I got the whole thing, but I should watch it again, just to be safe."  
  
Heero was still watching the blank screen behind her. "I'll watch it. To be safe." He felt his hand reach out on its own.  
  
Rei pulled the paper back away from him over her shoulder. "What? Don't trust me?" She taunted, suddenly very smug about catching Heero's attention, even if he may not have wanted it to happen.  
  
He leaned over her and snatched the paper, taking advantage of Rei's surprise at his sudden nearness. "I'll check the sequence." He stated firmly, in his monotonous voice that left no room for argument.  
  
Rei rolled her eyes as she stepped aside, letting him take the foremost place to the opening.  
  
(Stubborn...) She pursed her lips as he started up the movie again, fully aware of his eyes on her back. (Just occupy yourself until he's done.) Rei wandered around the bookshelf into the alley between it and the bookshelf against the wall. (What kind of movies would they have?) She leaned over and peered into the shadowed shelves. (No names...) She turned to the shelf along the wall and focused on the cases. Something in red ink seemed to glare out at her from behind the cases. (What's that?) Pushing aside the movies in the front, she tilted her head forward for a better look.  
  
The red ink seemed to glow fiercely and Rei barely had a chance to snap back as two gnarled, blackened hands reached out and snatched Rei's head. A twisted, ash black head wrenched itself from the depths of the bookcase, its gaping, misshapen jaws wide, exposing black fangs, distorted to seem more like old nails than teeth.  
  
Rei pulled a strangled cry from her throat as the thing tried to drag her head into its maw. Rei couldn't remember bracing her hands against the boards, but she locked her arms, and the thing continued to dig its claws into the sides of her head, mouth gaping in anticipation.  
  
A sudden burst of gunfire burst through the room, jarring the creature down, lifelessly sagging its arms over the bookshelf. Only a few seconds passed before it disappeared into ash with a gasp of air.  
  
Rei's breath rose and fell quickly in her delayed fear. (What? It touched me, I could have died. I nearly did. I could have ended right here...) Her heart slammed against her ribs. (I was just careless...) She felt warmth press against her and something soft against her face. (My eyes, when did I close my eyes...) She opened them to see she was against Heero's chest. A familiar click reminded Rei of the gunshots. "Saved me again..." (Did I say that out loud?) She thought sleepily. His arms snaked around her back and she closed her eyes again, falling into his heat, his sudden familiarity.  
  
A noise from the door prompted Heero to break away from Rei and aim a loaded gun at the intruder. Wufei stood at the door, gun in hand, the nearest thing to a smug grin Heero had even seen on him, spread across his face. A slight shifting at his side reminded him that he still had one arm protectively encircled around Rei's small waist. (Again.) Heero's face betrayed him as a heat rose to color him. Rei's eyes stayed closed, as though afraid if she opened them, this moment would vanish into ashes like the creature. A firm look at Wufei turned him around to stand on the other side of the door.  
  
Rei felt Heero's other arm around her again, and she leaned into him, swimming in her warm darkness. His chest was warm against her and his heart beat steadily there. She smiled softly. (Just forever...)  
  
But, surprisingly, it was Rei who backed away a step. (But we have to keep going.) She kept her eyes to the ground, not trusting herself to meet his eyes. "The others are waiting." She bit her lip and looked towards the door.  
  
Heero nodded slowly. (What came over me? Why did I betray my emotions?) "Yes. Let's go."  
  
Rei still kept her eyes low as he unholstered his gun and moved to the door. She stayed carefully behind him as he opened it and followed Wufei down the stairs towards the clock tower.  
  
After five painfully silent minutes, they made it up to the clock tower. Duo, Quatre, Trowa and Relena stood up in the highest room, everyone but Relena remaining patient.  
  
"Are we ready to move on?" Relena asked in her usual irritated voice.  
  
Rei looked at Trowa. "Do you have the time from the diary?"  
  
He nodded. "3:45."  
  
Rei nodded. "Now, someone has to go down the stairs, and pull on the chains in the wall until the clock tower reads 3:45. I think you can see it from one of the video cameras."  
  
Quatre nodded. "This one." He pressed one of the buttons on the console and an image of a clock tower came up.  
  
Rei nodded and looked around the room at the others. "Who wants to go pull the chains?" Trowa stepped forward and crossed his arms. Rei nodded her head. "Just go down and pull one of the chains. We'll call down what to do next."  
  
Trowa nodded and silently made his way towards the trap door in the center of the room. Wufei hesitated before following, jumping nimbly down the ladder.  
  
Duo stationed himself by the hole and looked expectantly between Quatre and Rei. Quatre turned to the console and brought up the picture of the clock tower. "It says 8:15. It moved fifteen minutes." He looked back over at Rei.  
  
She nodded. "Okay." She turned to Duo. "Yell down to pull the chain furthest from the one they just pulled."  
  
Duo pulled in a breath. "Pull the chain furthest from that one!"  
  
"It moved an hour this time. 9:15." Quatre reported.  
  
"Tell them to pull that same one..." Rei counted off in her head.  
  
"Six more times." Heero stated firmly from the other side of the room.  
  
"Pull it six more times!" Duo once again yelled the command down the stairs.  
  
"It's 3:15 now." Quatre reported.  
  
"Tell them to pull the first chain twice."  
  
"Pull the first one two times!" Duo yelled down once again. A few seconds later, a loud bell chimed through the museum, turning all heads toward the ceiling.  
  
Rei waited a moment before looking back at Duo. "They can come up now."  
  
"Get up here!" Duo yelled.  
  
Rei rolled her eyes. (These guys must live together or something to be able to put up with each other.)  
  
Trowa and Wufei jumped up the stairs, Wufei glaring Duo down, most likely not accustomed to being ordered around. Duo grinned widely and nonchalantly moved out of striking range.  
  
Rei shook her head and looked over at the clock contraption covering the side wall. She was almost surprised to see the giant dragon's head there, hissing at her. (Hm. The thing didn't make a sound when it moved. Strange.) Heero stood next to the thing, looking down at the head. He leaned over and plucked the almost camouflaged jar from the jaws of the dragon. Rei's eyes stayed on the dragon, its teeth and fierce grin seeming to jump out at her. (Almost like the thing in the bookcase.) She shivered and brought her arms together. (Stop thinking about it. You have to concentrate on what to do now.) Rei shook her head and looked up. Heero handed the jar to Relena, who took it without protest and put it in the bag.  
  
Heero watched Rei from the corner of his eye. (Is she cold? It is understandable, considering what she's wearing...) He forced his eyes back to the wall. (Concentrate on the mission.)  
  
Within the next three minutes, the group once again found themselves down in the lobby. Rei stood, leaning against the broken showcase, Wufei a few feet down from her, Duo sitting comfortably on the stairs next to Quatre, and both Heero and Trowa stood silently on the other side of Rei. Relena, apparently resting in perfect calm. Instead, her mind was buzzing in the silence.  
  
(She and Heero weren't talking when they came up. Maybe they had a fight. If I'm lucky. So maybe she won't be hanging all over him.) Her eyes narrowed. (Only if I'm lucky.)  
  
Rei cleared her throat, gathering everyone's attention. "Next, we have to go upstairs. There's a big maze up there, so I think maybe we should get to the storage room up there, so we have a place to meet from. The way is through the library." She straightened and turned towards the library door.  
  
"Then we should get going then." Heero concluded and moved towards the door, the others in trail.  
  
Once again, Rei stayed in the back with Relena, trying not to make eye contact. (Just keep watching ahead. Why do the guys still go first? They got all the creatures the first time around.) Rei suppressed a sigh and stood behind the door while the boys made sure the room was still safe. Quatre nodded to them through the door frame and Rei stood back to let Relena go first. The girl took the action with an airy nod of her head. Rei tried not to roll her eyes behind Relena's back.  
  
The others stood around the room, all carefully avoiding the candles on one side, after noting the music emanating from it. Rei tapped her way along one side of the bookcase, looking for a trigger. (It just opened on its own in the game...) Finally, the case slid open with a loud creak and Rei stepped back to let the boys do their 'job'.  
  
Duo leaned back in through the frame. "There's a hallway out here. Where are we supposed to go?"  
  
Rei poked her head in past him and pointed to the left. "That way. There's an elevator around that corner."  
  
Duo nodded and headed in that direction as Heero and Wufei returned from around the corners at the end of the hall to the right. The hall itself was much different than the rest of the museum. It looked to be made from ordered steel plates fastened together. At the right end of the hall were two halls, going in opposite directions, intersecting with the current one at a large, circle, steel grate, attached to the wall and decorated with a very realistic skull. On the left side of Rei, the hall cut off very short with another grate, without the skull. Just before the grate, however, the hall diverged to a smaller side hall. High on the wall, above the skulless grate, a small black camera was positioned, swerving to capture the entire hall every few minutes.  
  
Trowa leaned out from the smaller hallway. "I have the elevator open." He stated quietly.  
  
Rei nodded. (Then we should move it.) She turned to inform Wufei and Heero, but they were already making their way around Rei, towards Trowa and the elevator. Rei's eyes met Heero's for a second, but she pulled away. (Concentrate. Move it.)  
  
The group all fit in the elevator, though Rei was a little closer to Relena than she cared. (At least she's not arguing with me anymore. I wonder what happened. She couldn't have given up on Heero...) Rei pursed her lips. (Not that I care either way.) She added quickly.  
  
The elevator closed with a clamp and Rei looked around, waiting for the elevator to start up.  
  
"What's this?" Quatre asked.  
  
Rei's head snapped up. "What?" She followed his line of sight to a bunch of barely readable scribbles on the wall. It appeared to be written in red lipstick. Rei nodded. "That's from one of the missing kids. It tells you what to put in that door to the clock tower. You can just make out..." Rei traced her hands along the wall, though not touching the lipstick. "Geofrey. Though it trails off at the end..."  
  
A muffled boom echoed from somewhere above the elevator, starting Relena about two feet in the air. "What was that?!" She exclaimed nervously.  
  
Rei held in the laugh that threatened her voice from the back of her throat. "It's just part of the elevator music. See, the elevator is moving." Rei pointed out, gesturing at the small window above the doors. Layers upon layers of bricks were slowly descending past their car. Several audible clicks brought Rei's attention back down. The boys had their guns out, and Duo, Trowa and Quatre moved over in front of the girls, while Heero and Wufei stepped in front of the door, ready for anything that might pop out when the elevator stopped.  
  
Rei was tempted to roll her eyes, but didn't. (You were wrong about those creatures. That boom might actually mean something more than just elevator music now.)  
  
The doors slid away with a creak, opening to a very blue hallway. The carpet was navy blue; the wallpaper was ripped in several places and a similar color, only a little lighter, more sapphire blue. The hallway split in two directions, both ways veering off around a corner.  
  
Heero and Wufei stepped cautiously into the corridor, each watching down one side. After they concluded all was clear, they nodded to the others, allowing them to follow slowly. Rei slowly crept up to Heero. "We need to go down that way." She gestured to down the left way.  
  
Heero nodded. "This way." He told the others quietly, keeping his voice down, as though not to alert any enemies nearby.  
  
The moved, still very slowly down the hall. This time, however, Rei and Relena were in the middle of the group, protected from both in front and behind. They walked in silence down the corridor, passing several large rips in the wallpaper and turning only three corners. Rei stopped them next to a large pyramid decoration on the wall. It went from the floor to the ceiling, and the realistic sand color made the pyramid seem as though you could reach out and shift the bricks that held it together.  
  
Much to the others' surprise, Rei did just that. Kneeling over, making sure to keep a firm grip on the back of her skirt, much to Duo's dismay, and pulled out a corner of one of the bricks in the wall. She stood back behind the others and turned her head as a whoosh of air accompanied the center of the pyramid rising up to form a very wide doorway.  
  
She only half-hearted looked up at the sound of several clicks, but caught her breath at the sight of two, healthy, living men standing inside the room, both aiming their own guns as Heero and the boys prepared to take their own shots.  
  
"Zechs." Heero said plainly, his voice low.  
  
"Trieze." Wufei openly spat, clearly ready to put a bullet hole in one of the two men.  
  
The two inside, stood stone still, locking eyes with the two anxious youths ready to kill them.  
  
Ooooo... How evil am I??? Yeah, I decided to add a little more stuff to the story. Now Rei is not only going to have to direct the way out, but try to keep everyone from killing each other! Or will she let them have it out on their own? Maybe... Anyway, sorry it took so ling to get this chapter out I got hit with two research papers at once!!! It's a conspiracy I tell you... I managed to get them all done, and I made this chapter extra long to compensate for the long wait! Hope you like it!!! 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
Rei forgot herself in the shock for a moment, when she caught her surprise and shook her head. (No! No killing while I'm here!) She sidestepped in front of Heero and quickly held her arms out to prevent them for shooting around her. "Stop it." She raised her voice and tossed a hard look over her shoulder at the two men, who now stood further apart, looking as though they were definitely not allies. "All of you."  
  
Heero kept his gun up. "Move, Rei. We're in a war. They are the enemy."  
  
"You know nothing of wars, woman, now move." Wufei growled.  
  
The comment pushed Rei to a few slim inches from his face. "I know plenty about wars," She hissed. "And I know now is neither the time nor the place for one. You two want to settle something, you do it on your own time." She finished with a hard snarl and looked expectantly back at the other two men.  
  
The man to the left, the one Heero called Zechs, tall and stern looking with snowy white hair and a long, gray trench coat, slowly lowered his, gun, but did not take his eyes from Heero. The other man, Treize, dressed far too formally for the location of a museum storage room, was just as tall with short, golden blond hair smoothed back. Also lowering his gun, he gave Wufei a more polite glare.  
  
Rei's stare went to Heero and Wufei who, somewhat reluctantly, lowered their own guns. "Now, if we can all just get along, we can get out of here and back to our lives." She folded her arms and glanced back and forth between the two parties until they all holstered their guns.  
  
Quatre stepped in behind her. "Now that we have a temporary cease-fire, where do we go from here?"  
  
Rei glanced around the room, vaguely noting the size, it was almost as big as the Egypt room, and the various boxes strewn here and there. (Let's see, I need to resolve this conflict, or at least delay it, but there are too many places we need to get to for me to keep an eye on all of them.) She sighed. "We still have to split up." She turned around and stepped back, allowing the others to come into the room. From the corner of her eye, Rei saw a silent, but obvious exchange between Relena and this man called Zechs. (Watch those two.) "Now, since I'm afraid I can't trust some of you," She looked pointedly in the direct6ion of Heero and Wufei. "To make good groups. I'll choose who goes with who." Both Zechs and Treize tensed.  
  
Quatre noticed this with a smiled and turned to them. "Rei is an honest person. She will get us out of here."  
  
Treize nodded slowly. "Yes." His eyes scanned the room. "But where are we?"  
  
Rei sighed. "This is going to sound a little fantastic, but just keep an open mind." She took a deep breath. "You are in Professor Windlenot's Museum of the Strange and Unusual. There are a bunch of spirits around here, called Ixupi. If you go too close to them and look at where they are hiding, the Ixupi will jump out at you and take a piece of your life's essence. If you lose all your life essence, you shrivel up and die. Got it?" She took another breath and looked at the two men in front of her.  
  
While both nodded slowly, neither, especially Zechs, looked convinced. Zechs half smiled and turned away. "You were right. That does sound very fantastic." He closed his eyes. "But if it's what we have to believe to get out of here, then fine."  
  
Rei rolled her eyes. (What an asshole.) She turned back to the boys standing in a protective group somewhat around Relena. "Now we still need to make groups." Her eyes grazed over the group. "Quatre." He looked up. "You and Treize go out the pyramid we came in, but go down the hall to the left. You'll find yourself in a maze, but it's not too hard, just keep walking around until you find a door. Go in and over to the second door in the room. There is a panel on the wall with a bunch of squares on it. Rearrange the squares to form a painting. It's of some battle scene I think." She waved her hand vaguely. "You two might recognize it." Rei shook her head. "Anyway, inside the door is another jar, and a fortune telling thing. Put in the penny you'll find and the fortune thing will give you a card. Bring both the card and the jar back up here." Rei bit her lip thoughtfully and looked away. "If I remember right, there's a pile of scrap metal somewhere in the maze where the metal Ixupi sometimes is, and right inside the door you go in, there's some boards along the wall for the wood Ixupi. You know what to listen for."  
  
Quatre nodded and looked back at Treize as he turned to leave. Treize hesitated but obliged. He glanced at Rei before he left. "I trust you know what you're doing." He stated simply before disappearing around the corner.  
  
Rei looked towards the empty doorway before she continued. (I hope I do too.) "Duo." She turned to him as he looked up. "You and Zechs go through that door down there." She pointed to the far wall, where a small door stood, somewhat innocently, in the corner. "You'll be in a UFO exhibit." Rei looked around for Relena and approached her. "You have a book they need." She explained quietly, and Relena opened the bag without complaint, though with another glance at Zechs. Rei caught the look, but ignored it, pulling a book out of the bag easily. Rei turned and handed the book to Zechs, who happened to be nearest. He took it with a hint of distrust in his face. Rei, holding her temper, ignored him. "In that book you'll find a bunch of symbols that you have to put in the right order. The flying saucer thing opens up to give you a talisman, I think. Got everything so far?" Only Duo nodded. Rei pursed her lips, but continued. "Go down the stairs and take the first right you see. Go through the room and step in front of the coffin you'll find in the next room. Open it and a skeleton 'should' fall out. Be careful, there might be something other than a skeleton hiding in there." Duo nodded again, catching the warning in her voice. "There's a jar inside. Take it and come back up here."  
  
Duo nodded once again and looked cheerfully at Zechs. "Seems like we're partners! We'd better get going then!"  
  
Zechs did not smile, but turned his glare back to Rei. "I don't take orders from children."  
  
Rei blinked slowly and clenched her fists against her indignant comeback. Surprisingly, it was Heero who spoke up. "Go, Zechs. Just listen to her so we can get out of here."  
  
Zechs' glare shifted and he turned away, leaving Duo to follow awkwardly behind. They swiftly disappeared through the door on the other side of the room. Rei looked after them a moment. (Getting out of here is going to take even longer if he isn't going to listen to me without Heero's backup.) She held in her sigh. Turning around, Rei looked around the remaining people, quickly running over a few things.  
  
"Okay. Trowa and Relena, stay in here." Rei noticed Relena tense and quickly explained herself. "There's a puzzle in that big box over there," Rei pointed to the other side of the room at a box easily the size of a large car. "Where you have to rearrange a bunch of wires to get a jar. It one of the hardest puzzles in the game, so you could be working on it for a while. When everyone gets back here, I'm counting on you two to," She cast Trowa a hard look. "Make sure they get along."  
  
Trowa nodded sharply. "Solve the puzzle and keep everyone from hurting each other."  
  
Rei smiled softly. "To put it bluntly."  
  
Trowa turned silently and padded silently over to the huge box. Relena, hesitating, shifted back and forth. Finally, she turned and followed Trowa. Rei looked down at the floor. (Stop feeling guilty. You know where you're going next. Relena can't go there. Especially if she can't even handle seeing a corpse inside a coffin.)  
  
Relena's P.O.V.  
  
Relena stood next to the box, watching the trio from the corner of her eye. (Okay. Wufei was with them last time, and they came back not speaking. Calm down. They might have another argument. Stay calm.) She turned her attention to Trowa, who was already at work on the mass of tangled wires inside the sizable machine that had rested inside the box. Reds, greens, blues and yellows were all twisted together within the wires that somehow cut off at their middles and connected with another wire of a different color. Trowa pulled and turned at the wires, connecting this one to that.  
  
Relena sighed again and looked back over at Heero. Her heart stopped in her chest. (What?!) Heero was now practically right up against that girl! Relena tensed her grip on the bag and managed to pull her face into a calm mask as the three passed in front of her through the door on the opposite wall. (I think I'm going to need some help in dealing with this.)  
  
I'm so sorry for the short chapter, I was going to do all this stuff, but I got to this point, and I was just sick of this story. My original fic is coming close to its end, and I've got a billion ideas flying around in my head, making this fic very hard to write. Once again, lots of sorrys, but this is how things are right now. But, then again, if I get lots of reviews *wink wink* I might update again with the rest of this chapter. ^_^ See ya then! 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
AN: Just to give a heads up, the timing is a little weird in this chapter. The first P.O.V. and all others that begin with 'ten minutes earlier' all begin from the time that they leave the room in the previous chapter. Example: Quatre's P.O.V. starts as Quatre is leaving the room; Duo's begins as he is leaving the room, and so on.  
  
Quatre P.O.V.  
  
Quatre waited a moment for Treize to pass through the pyramid door. The door slid shut behind him, and Quatre suddenly felt very cut off from the others, as though the door were a split between dimensions, rather than rooms. But, he shook his head and looked over at Treize, who stood at the top of the stairs leading down to the left.  
  
Treize looked over his shoulder at the boy. "We should get going now." He said quietly, not an order, but still firm.  
  
Quatre nodded and followed the man as he led the way down the stairs. (At least we're not fighting. We can get along.) He smiled to himself. (Maybe Rei did know what she was doing when she told me to go with him.)  
  
Treize stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned back to Quatre. He extended a hand. "Do you want to go first?"  
  
Quatre hesitated. (Would he try to shoot me in the back?) Quatre smiled and nodded. (No. He has too much honor for that. If he wants to challenge me, he will do it to my face.)  
  
Quatre walked in silence through the hallways, eyes scanning along the same torn, blue wallpaper they had met with when they had stepped out of the elevator. The same blank spaces of wall, faded as though a picture had hung there once. Quatre passed a side alley off the hall and glanced into it. (Empty...) Turning the corner at the end of the hall, Quatre glanced back to see Treize following behind, closely, but at his own leisure.  
  
Three more corner turns and Quatre found the door Rei had told him about. They had already come across the alley with a pile of scrap metal, which they carefully avoided, and also sparked a conversation about the Ixupi with Treize.  
  
"So it doesn't initially hurt, but you simply lose your energy?" Treize asked, finally understanding the Ixupi background.  
  
Quatre nodded as he stopped in front of the door. "That's what Wufei said after the water one got him."  
  
Treize looked up. "He let one of the things attack him?"  
  
Quatre smiled half-heartedly. "It was when we were first dropped down here. We met Rei, and when she explained the situation we didn't actually believe her." He closed his eyes. "Though Wufei was the only one to put it into words." His smiled fell. "Though his words could have been a bit more polite..."  
  
Treize nodded and blinked slowly. "So, is this the door?"  
  
"Yes." Quatre nodded and turned the handle. The door creaked loudly on its hinges and swung open slowly. Quatre stepped incautiously. The familiar music seemed to drift from behind the open door, between it and the wall. A quick glance told him a pile of boards rested there.  
  
Treize stopped in the doorframe. "What's that music?"  
  
"That's the tune I told you about. Rei mentioned there would be a wood Ixupi in here. Just don't look behind the door. The thing can't attack you if it can't see you or if you can't see it." Quatre walked cautiously across the room, listening to the music dim slowly, and fade away.  
  
Treize followed behind, also listening to the music die. On the other side of the room was another door, with a wooden panel on the wall beside it. Both stopped in front of it. Quatre looked at Treize who waved his hand, giving Quatre the honors. The boy smiled a thanks at the man and touched the panel.  
  
It opened to reveal a series of squares, all similarly colored, but with different designs. All seemed to be a dark, redish-mud color with blotches of muddy purple here and there. The squares definitely seemed to be a picture, scattered into a puzzle.  
  
"La Goya's 'The Great Battle'..." Treize muttered.  
  
Quatre looked over at him. "You recognize this?"  
  
Treize nodded with satisfaction. "Yes. Don't you? Well, it isn't one of his very well known paintings..."  
  
"Then you know how it goes?" Quatre asked hopefully.  
  
Treize nodded again. "It might take a while."  
  
Quatre shrugged. "We have a while."  
  
So, Treize began pulling and pushing around the pieces, rearranging them into what became a battle scene. Quatre smiled as the man stood back to admire the now-completed painting. "I guess we can go in now."  
  
Quatre reached for the door handle, and paused. "Might be something in there." He warned and pulled out a gun. Treize followed suit and pressed up against the wall. Three gunshots later, both were in the room, Quatre at a very cheap-looking fortune telling machine, and Treize sitting on the boxes behind him.  
  
In the small return tray on the machine, a penny dropped down with a clink. Quatre looked at it for a moment, before picking it up, and dropping it carefully into the given slot.  
  
The plastic fortune teller, complete with a fake gold earring and bandana, held out her hand. A card was clipped between her fingers. Quatre took the small slip of cardboard and looked at it.  
  
'Align War with Love and Mind Turn Thunder and Sea straight with Time Reach out your hand and touch a Star The End so near, and yet so far'  
  
"Treize." Quatre said absently. The man stood up, ready to leave. "Look at this." Quatre handed him the card. "Do you recognize this poem?"  
  
Treize read it through and shook his head. "No. Do you?"  
  
Quatre also shook his head. "No. But Rei needs it, so we should be getting back. Did you find that jar?"  
  
Treize held up the jar and nodded. "Are we ready to go?"  
  
Duo P.O.V. (about ten minutes earlier)  
  
Duo followed Zechs through the door silently, not wanting to push the older man into a gun fight that he knew should be reserved for Heero. Duo paused to close the door behind him and turned to get his first eyeful of the room. It was a small room, much smaller than the storage room, and was dimly lit by a large model of the sun centered in the room and surrounded by a small solar system. To the left of the system was a very small scale Stonehenge, itself lit by a buzzing electric light suspended from the low ceiling by a long cord. On the other side of the solar system was a metal space saucer, held off the floor by a metal platform. The saucer had a panel imbedded in it, which Zechs was already investigating.  
  
Duo stepped up beside him silently and peered around Zechs' arm. (Okay. Just let him solve it. He probably knows what to do already.) Duo nodded to himself and continued to watch silently.  
  
Zechs brushed his hand across the panel, and suppressed his frown when it didn't open. (There must be a trigger somewhere...) He tilted his head to glance under the saucer, and started back a step as it opened on its own.  
  
"Hm." Duo mumbled from next to him and Zechs glared at the boy as he drew his hand away from a half-hidden button in the side. Duo grinned widely in an effort to hide his own uneasiness about the situation.  
  
Zechs held his glare for a moment before turning back to the panel and opening the book he had forgotten was in his hands. Inside the panel were the names of three cities and three symbols next to each. Zechs frowned. (Wait. These cities have been demolished for at least a century. Why does this...exhibit bring them up now?) A quick look to the display panel to the side told him that each of these cities had been sites of 'extraterrestrial encounters' in the past. Zechs ran this over in his head before opening the book and flipping through it. He stopped abruptly on a page laid out in the same way as the panel, only with the symbols in different order. (I must have to put these things in this order.)  
  
His eyes shifted to movement to his right. Duo was now moving around the room, realizing his supervision over Zechs was not needed or wanted. Duo stepped in front of the solar system model and held a hand out to Pluto. The planet shifted on its axis and orbited about three inches. Duo smirked at the possibility of something interesting to do. He batted the small planet left and right, watching it spin soundlessly. Duo flicked it hard to the left and watched it spin all the way around the sun.  
  
A sliding noise brought his attention back to Zechs. The man had successfully arranged the symbols and now stepped away from the saucer, a jar top in hand. The planet continued spinning and softly tapped Zechs' shoulder, halting the small sphere in its orbit. Zechs brought his glare down on Duo. The boy laughed haltingly and moved away, around to the other side of the solar system. Duo's smile dropped as music drifted to his ears, the same tune he knew to listen for. A slight plan pulled itself together in his mind. "Zechs?" He asked innocently.  
  
The older man continued to circle the system, not sure of what he would do when he caught the child playing on the other side. "What."  
  
"Do you believe what Rei said about the spirits in the museum?"  
  
Zechs rolled his eyes. "No. I do not."  
  
Duo smiled broadly and stepped to the side. "Then come stand where I am."  
  
Zechs clenched his fists, half-surprised to find himself so upset. "I don't take orders from children." He growled.  
  
Duo held up his hands. "Hey, it's not an order. Just a request..." He dropped his hands to indicate the space next to him, in front of the Stonehenge.  
  
Zechs stopped. (It's some sort of trap. It must be.)  
  
As if reading his thoughts, Duo sighed. "I'm not going to shoot you or anything, I just want you to see something."  
  
Zechs took another step hesitantly, eyes scanning for anything dangerous. He stopped in the space next to Duo. Zechs lifted his head as a faint music reached his ears. He turned around, looking for the source. "What did you do? What is that music?"  
  
Duo shifted a step away and jerked his head towards the stones behind Zechs. "Just look over there."  
  
Zechs turned and focused on the stones. The music grew louder and a sense of danger grew with it. Zechs felt himself root to the spot as the light above the stones buzzed with the electricity sparking over it. The sparks pulled together into a single, thick bolt. The thing seemed to have eyes that glared cruelly out at him as it swiped a glinting limb out at Zechs. The bolt passed through his chest, painlessly, but as the thing retreated back into its lampshade, Zechs felt the energy drain out of him, and he fell to one knee. He tilted his head up to Duo, who now stood smugly over him. "You knew...it was there." Zechs accused weakly.  
  
Duo rolled his eyes. "Now will you believe?" A shadow moved behind Duo and Zechs' eyes shifted there. "Rei's been through this thing, and she is trying to get all of us out of here without anyone ending up dead." The shadow moved again, closer, and Zechs frowned. Duo sighed. "Come on, no need to stay down there forever. We've gotta keep moving." He held out a hand for Zechs.  
  
Duo suddenly felt a draft creep up his back and he managed to twist around in time to shove the creature away and pull his gun out. But Zechs was faster than him, and shot the thing twice. The room stood silent for a moment, the music gone, and the shadows no longer moving on their own. Duo managed to nod a thanks to Zechs before they continued on their way.  
  
The rest of the 'mission' went without event. They made their way down the stairs in the back of the room, crossed though a very cluttered room full of stuffed creatures, werewolves, Cyclops, and even a unicorn. There was a bronze snake in the next room, which both were careful to avoid. The coffin Rei had spoken of was set right in front of the door, and Zechs and Duo had to work together to force open the coffin. Despite Rei's warning, there was no creature inside, only a red-dyed skeleton that fell noisily to the floor as they opened the lid. Zechs made a mental note of the girl's miscalculation, but kept silent. Duo picked up the jar this time and they made their way back up to the storage room.  
  
Relena P.O.V.  
  
Relena look up at the sound of a door, but sighed as it was only Zechs and Duo. (Why is Heero taking so long? He wouldn't even think of doing anything with that girl, no. But she would try and take him in an instant. I can't just sit here, waiting for her to try something! But Heero thinks of her as an ally, and won't let me take her on.) Relena smiled to herself. (I may not exactly be a warrior, but I most certainly can fight better than some whore in a skirt. But how can I get Heero to listen to me?)  
  
Zechs sat down on the box a few feet away from the opposite wall. Relena watched Duo saunter over, the jars in hand. Standing up, Relena took the jars silently, placed both in the bag, and brushed past Duo towards Zechs. She felt all eyes in the room watching her, but ignored them. She heard Trowa get back to work on the wires, twisting and connecting, and she held Zechs' eye contact as she approached him.  
  
Relena forced her head to waver and she pulled her eyes to the floor. She stopped in front of the box, hesitated, and hopped up next to Zechs. Zechs looked over at her, awkwardly. "Yes?"  
  
Relena looked down at the floor and bit her lip. "You know, since we're technically not enemies anymore, and you're technically my brother... I kind of just want your advice on something..." She trailed off, still looking at the ground and biting her lip.  
  
Zechs, looked the girl, who obviously had something on her mind, and leaned over, bringing his eyes to her level. "Yes?" He asked again, gently.  
  
"I, um, see, I've kind of known Heero for a while, and I kind of thought we were friends, you know, good friends." She kept her head down, still not meeting his eyes. "Well, I, um, thought we were really good friends, and I kind of, I guess, liked him." She hesitated, biting her lip.  
  
"And?" Zechs prodded quietly. (Why is she telling me this?) He felt a smile tug at his lips. (She is still an adolescent girl. Maybe she really does just want someone to listen.)  
  
"But now," Her voice lowered to a slight whisper. "That girl, Rei, with her stupid skirt and hair and..." Her voice trembled on the verge of either tears or rage. "She's doing everything to take him away. She gets his arms around her, stares at him, touches him, tries to kiss him... And she wears that skirt like she's some kind of..." Her hands tightened on the edge of the box. "I just can't compete with that."  
  
Zechs felt another pang of pity for the girl. "I don't..." He searched for something to say.  
  
Relena took a deep breath. "I'm not trying to dump anything on you. I, I just don't know what to do..."  
  
"Have you tried talking to him?" He asked quietly.  
  
Relena shook her head slowly and opened her eyes. "I can never get him alone. She always.." Relena hesitated. "She always picks the groups, and she always gets to be with Heero. I never get a chance..." She squeezed her eyes shut again.  
  
Zechs held in a sigh. "I think I could help."  
  
Relena looked up. "Help? You don't have to-"  
  
"You need the help." Zechs shrugged. "Though I must admit this situation is...unique to me, you are, technically, my little sister, and I do feel compelled to help you."  
  
Relena continued to shake her head. "No, you don't have to do anything, I just kind of, wanted somebody to listen to me."  
  
Once again, the smile pulled at his lips. "I will help." The smile fell away. "But once we get out of here, you know Heero and I will still be enemies."  
  
Relena nodded slowly. "I know." She smiled slightly. "Thank you." (Perfect.)  
  
Rei P.O.V. (also about ten minutes earlier)  
  
After Zechs and Duo left, Rei quickly explained what they would have to do, and the two boys listened patiently. "Understand?" She asked after she had finished.  
  
Both nodded shortly, and Rei had the sudden feeling they were trying to keep their anger in check. Then, as if to confirm her feeling, Heero stepped forward. He leaned in and fixed her under his glare. Normally, Rei would have blushed at his close proximity, but his look seriously discouraged such thought. "They are the enemy. Once we get out of this place, I will treat them as such."  
  
"But while in here, we will oblige by your rules." Wufei added, reluctantly.  
  
Rei nodded. "And once you go home, I could care less how you handle your enemies. But like I said, inside a broken down, haunted museum is not the place for a war." She looked back and forth between the two. "Can we go now?"  
  
They nodded again and Heero led the way towards the far door. Rei carefully avoided Relena's eyes as she passed. (Maybe I should let Relena be with Heero more often. She really seems to like him and maybe they kind of belong together. Who am I to try and butt in on that?) Even as the thought passed through her mind, she felt herself lying. (Why do I really want to be with him? Once we leave this place, I'll never see him again...)  
  
Ooooo, yet another cliffy... Relena's got a plan, Quatre's got a card, and Rei may be giving up on her feelings!! Chaos!! Well, not quite, but I think it's interesting. Anyway, get ready for a long AN, I got a few things to say. 1. I don't know if there's a Goya painting named 'The Great Battle', but if there is, I don't know about it. I just chose some well known painter. 2. Major apologies for the weird timing. If you still don't get it, all of them are happening about the same time, except for Relena's P.O.V. Sorry for cutting Rei off again, but I going to try to keep my chapters to a 3,000 word count. I can't go back and open my chapter 8 on my computer and since that chapter was my biggest, I think its size might have something to do with it. 3. I'm not sure if I said it before, but here it is, Rei won't be using her powers here. She was going to towards the end of my original idea for this story, but this took a minor turn here, and she won't be using her powers. 4. You all are going to think I'm so blond, (I'm not, I've got light brown hair) but I don't spend literally any time chatting so all these 'lol' and 'btw' (yes I know what those two mean) are not really my in my vocabulary. So, here's my question. What does 'rnrn' mean?!!! I see it in every other review, but I don't have a clue what it means!! Can someone please fill this poor little lost girl in... 5. As always, review! 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
Rei P.O.V.  
  
Rei stood silently behind Heero as he and Wufei opened the creaking door. Heero got a good look around the room and cast Rei an unreadable glance. Rei resisted rolling her eyes. (Yeah, you're worried about this room. But I'm not letting either of you out of my sights.)  
  
Rei carefully watched Relena from the corner of her eye as the two boys searched the room. Relena was sitting against the machine Trowa was currently fixing. (Hm. She looks really pissed. Well, I guess I could let her be with her Heero more often... It's not like they really need to be separated...) The sight of Heero's face when they first had found Relena and she flung her arms around him, suddenly drifted into her head. Rei blinked and looked away to clear the image. (It's something they need to work out. Even if he doesn't return her feelings, I shouldn't be doing this to Relena.)  
  
Heero waited patiently for Rei to clear her thoughts before getting her attention. (What was she concentrating on?) He hadn't missed Rei's look towards Relena. (What would she want?)  
  
Rei looked back towards the door to see Heero staring intently at her. Rei almost took a step away from him, before he nodded his head and disappeared though the door. "I take it that means all's clear..." Rei muttered, and stepped through herself.  
  
She tensed immediately and suppressed a gasp. (This place is even creepier in real life...) The room was shadowed in gray, with stone walls and floors. To her left, a discolored wall hung four chains, each different lengths, each supporting a manacle on its end. In that corner, a fake skeleton sat hunched miserably inside a small cage suspended from the ceiling by a long chain. A clean and well sharpened iron maiden lay a few feet away. To the left, a small garden of mis-matched spikes spoked up from a rimmed area along the wall. And ahead, lay a small tunnel, only maybe five feet high, with heavy iron spikes lining the round walls. Beyond, Rei recalled there to be a gallows, complete with fake body, and a steel cage with working electric chair inside.  
  
Wufei leaned silently against the wall next to the tunnel, staring solemnly at the iron maiden. He looked up as Rei entered. "This place is dangerous." He stated simply, turning his head and closing his eyes slowly.  
  
Rei nodded. "It's the worst place in the museum. Keep an eye out."  
  
His eyes flashed open. "I am."  
  
Heero watched the exchange. (She does try to keep us safe.) He looked away. (But she knows nothing of real danger.)  
  
Rei shifted her gaze from Wufei to the spiked tunnel next to him. "There's a jar, or talisman back there, under the gallows."  
  
Heero nodded. "Stay here." He pulled out his gun, and with one last look around the room, advanced on the tunnel. He stopped at its mouth and peered in. As he took his first step, Heero barely managed to escape being skewered as a handful of the spikes shot downwards. He instinctively fired off a shot as he jumped back, but the bullet failed to shatter the spike. Instead, the bullet buried itself in it, making a small crater where it landed.  
  
Rei found herself jumping back a few steps, even after Heero fired. "What?" She asked aloud.  
  
Wufei turned his accusing stare towards her, but his expression dropped slightly at her word. "You didn't-"  
  
Rei shook her head. "Nothing in this place, except for the Ixupi, ever was a threat..." She shook her head quickly and stepped up behind Heero. "Are you-"  
  
"Fine." He said quickly, still watching the tunnel for further movement. He reached out a hand to the spike in front, the one he shot. Grasping it, he shook it gently. The spike fell out easily in his hand. It was large and heavy, and he tossed it aside, careful not to hit Rei. "Stand back." He all but commanded, and Rei quietly obliged.  
  
Wufei stepped up beside him, and together, they made their way through the tunnel, cautiously activating, then pulling out the spikes one by one, and either using them to trip the next spikes, or tossing them out behind them. Rei was careful to keep away from the tunnel mouth, out of the range of the flying spikes.  
  
Once on the other side, they seemed to give the room a very good look over, for it was a good few minutes before they called Rei over.  
  
She walked cautiously through the now spike-free tunnel and her eyes were immediately called to the scaffolding, right where it should have been, to her right. (Whoa, this seems a lot more realistic when it's not on the computer...well, everything in here does.)  
  
Wufei was up on the scaffolding, examining a panel off to the side. Heero stood on the ground, running his hands over yet another panel, this one with words on it. Rei stepped up next to him, careful to keep her hands clasped in front of her. "It says something about measurements on the plate. You have to enter the measurements in that one up there." Rei nodded up to Wufei, who stood with his head cocked, staring at the fake body that stood ominously with the noose around its neck. "The body will drop through a trap door, and there will be another jar down there."  
  
Wufei, head still tilted, leaned in closer to the body. He motioned his hand for quiet. Rei fell silent. A faint noise reached Rei's ears and she couldn't help but lean towards the scaffolding as it seemed to come from there. The sound suddenly grew and the body on the gallows exploded open in a flurry of cloth skin and cotton fluff. A creature, still wearing bits of cloth from the dummy, shot its hands out at Wufei. The boy barely managed to block the attack, and blocked further ones by grabbing the thing's wrists and trying to push it backwards.  
  
Heero leapt around the wooden stairs to the scaffolding, but made a surprising jump over the railing, nearly landing on top of Rei. She was about to protest, when he snatched her around the waist and pulled her away from a sharp blow that would have connected with her back, delivered by yet another creature. Heero let go of Rei and reached for his gun, only to have it knocked from his hand by a clawed swipe. The creature advanced on him and in seconds, Heero, too, was arm locked with the creature.  
  
Suddenly feeling helpless, Rei glanced between the two fights. (Wait.) Quickly glancing at the plate next to her, Rei dashed up the stairs to the gallows and paused a few feet from Wufei and the creature. "Get down, woman!"  
  
Rei growled and rolled her eyes. "Get it on the trap door!" She shouted, and slid past the two grappling figures to the panel on the other side. Wufei glanced at her, a mistake, for the creature took the opportunity to make a long slash down his arm. He growled and took the thing by its wrists again, and began pushing it back. Rei looked down at the plate in front of her, three dials of numbers and did some quick math. (Okay, twelve and twelve, plus four...) She shakily spun the dials and entered '1-4-8' there was a swinging noise and a 'thunk' as the rope went taut. It shook for a few moments as the creature struggled on its noose, then became still as it finally died and fell into dust.  
  
Both Wufei and Rei snapped their attention to Heero, but Wufei stopped on the way down as Heero kicked the creature down and speared it with one of the heavy spikes lying only a bit away. It twisted and contorted for a moment, then it too fell to dust.  
  
Rei released her breath and leaned over. A sudden draft blew up her back and she tensed and straightened, tugging slightly on her skirt. (Of all times...) she trotted down the stairs and noticed with slight surprise that Heero was actually breathing heavily. (So even he gets tired.)  
  
She hurried over to him and looked him over. "Are you-"  
  
"Are you okay?" He asked forcefully, taking her shoulders and straightening her.  
  
Rei sighed. "I'm fine. But you were fighting. And Wufei!" She whipped her head around to see him already bandaging his arm with strips of cloth that remained of the dummy.  
  
"Fine. See to Heero." He replied absently.  
  
Rei turned back around to Heero. "Were you hurt?" She asked firmly.  
  
Heero hesitated, but shook his head. "Hn." He twisted his arm around to reveal a long slash, not deep, but serious enough to bleed.  
  
Rei pulled in a breath and stepped out of his grasp to snatch up more of the discarded rags nearby. She pulled him around and carefully wrapped his wound. Heero watched her silently as she checked it to make sure she had gotten it tight enough. (Why...does she care?)  
  
Rei finally released his arm. (How much more until this is over? Those spikes, the creatures, how much more won't I know?)  
  
Yeah, yeah, I updated... Took me long enough... Well, I got it up didn't I?! Hm, I was thinking a bit after I updated the last chapter and I have just two more questions. 1. Are there any guys out there reading? It seems whenever I read a story, I just get this vibe that it's written by a female. I check the bio and lo and behold! A girl! I'm female myself and I was just wondering how much of this site is guy-populated. You don't have to answer, of course, I'm just curious. 2. I was surfing for new fav stories and came across the term 'Mary Sue' a few times in some people's summaries. I think it might have something to do with original characters, but I am completely unsure. Anyway, I was totally surprised at the number of review I got for the last chapter! I would have normally updated right away to that number, but I'm really trying to wrap up my original fic (only 1 chapter left!) and I've been working on that. Well, hope you liked the action in this chapter! Review! 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
Rei and the others returned to the storage room to find everyone else already there. Trowa and Quatre were going through one of the books that had been in Relena's bag, Relena herself was sitting on a box not too far from Zechs, Treize stood against the wall, staring at nothing, and Duo was sitting up on a box near Trowa and Quatre, swinging his legs contentedly. Heero went to lean next to the largest box, where the large machine stood, now with an open, empty compartment in the side. Wufei hesitated, and leaned against the wall furthest from Treize.  
  
Rei stood at the door, feeling suddenly awkward and left out. (Stop that. Let them rest.)  
  
"Are we going to go, or what?" Relena asked tentatively, her attitude gone.  
  
(For the moment.)Rei cleared her throat and moved away from the door as all eyes shifted to her. "We still-" A sudden wave of numbness washed over her, and Rei fell to her knees. "What?" She asked shakily, and the wave came again.  
  
"The Ash Ixupi!" Someone shouted and Rei felt a warm presence nearby and looked up to see Prussian blue eyes scanning her, for once filled with concern.  
  
"You'll get-" Rei tried to whisper a warning, but it came too late and Heero leaned over her as his own energy was stolen.  
  
"The jar-" Rei gasped as she was hit again. "Connect it to the talisman..." She managed to get out.  
  
Heero emitted a low grunt as more energy was pulled from him.  
  
"Hurry!" Duo's voice seemed soft and far away.  
  
"Not it, doesn't fit, not the right one..." Quatre's voice drifted off as another wave took a hold of Rei. She got a vague vision of Heero beside her, one hand holding against the floor, the other supporting Rei against him.  
  
"Found it!" Rei couldn't identify the shout, but as darkness clouded her vision, she heard a single voice.  
  
"Don't die..." Rei heaved a breath and concentrated, and she was barely able to hear Heero pull in the same breath.  
  
"I got it!"  
  
Something cool swept over Rei and she opened her eyes. Strength pooled inside her and she looked up at Heero, also awake and watching her.  
  
"Are you-" He started.  
  
"I'm fine. You?"  
  
"Hn."  
  
Rei smiled weakly. "I'll take that as a yes."  
  
"Hn."  
  
Heero helped Rei up and both of their heads jerked over as they saw Zechs stand up as well. Rei stared at him. "You took some of it." She stated simply.  
  
He nodded. "Though you may not know as much as you say about this place, you seem to have kept them," He jerked his head towards the boys, standing silently nearby. "Out of trouble. And since they apparently trust you..." His backwards glance at Relena was swift, but Rei caught it. "I will trust you." The hardness that passed across Relena's face was hard to miss.  
  
Relena's P.O.V.  
  
Relena had to force herself not to glare at Zechs for helping Rei. (He says he'll help me, but then goes back and protects her!) Relena's admitted, she hadn't known what to think when she saw the green sparks flickering behind Rei, but when someone shouted wheat they saw, Relena had to resist jumping for joy. But, when Heero rushed to her side, her joy was replaced by indignation, and when Zechs too ran to her aid, the indignation quickly boiled over into anger. (When I was nearly given a heart attack, did anyone bother to ask me if I was okay?! No!)  
  
Relena dropped down off the box. (Well, if I won't have any help, I had better get on the offensive.) It was then she noticed the bloody rag tied to Heero's arm. (Perfect. Now, just wait for the right time.) Instead, she stood up, shifting awkwardly, trying to look as though she didn't know what to do.  
  
Duo P.O.V.  
  
Duo stood off to the side, allowing Rei and Heero to have their space with Zechs. He silently cursed Relena. (Rei could have died because of Relena freaking out and dumping that ash on her!) He took a deep breath and steadied himself. Glancing around, he saw the same expression on the others' faces, suppressed anger and discreet looks towards Relena.  
  
I am so sorry it's so short!!! And for not updating sooner!! I've had major writer's block and, well, this is all I have... I hope you all aren't too mad... Please review... 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
  
The storage room was silent as the group tried to calm down after the panic from the Ixupi. The ash vessel, which oddly turned a dark gold color after it was filled, sat on the floor in front of Relena, who stared at it blankly, a vision of boredom. The boys, and the two men, were still scattered around the room, very willing to give Rei the time needed to recover.  
  
Quatre sat on a box, not far from Rei, piecing together any other completed jars they had. (We have ash, oil, cloth.Will Rei know where the Cloth and Oil Ixupis are?) He frowned. (We have to be more careful. If we hadn't had the right jar for ash.) He shuddered at the though of Rei ending up like one of the corpses that were found throughout the museum, or worse, like one of the zombies they were forced to kill in nearly every room. (Perhaps we could keep her here, or someplace safe.) Quatre shook his head to himself. (We tried that with Relena. There's no place we can be sure of in this madhouse.)  
  
He set down the last two pieces and looked at the floor. (And what was Relena thinking?) Quatre had noticed the flash of joy that passed over Relena's face when Rei fell to the floor. (Would Relena really want Rei to get hurt? Is it because of Heero?) He bit his lip as he shoved the jars, talismans, and completed vessels back into the bag. (Relena wouldn't.would she?) His gaze wandered to the girl and he watched her out of the corner of his eye. (Relena is a pacifist. She'll try talking.) He snapped the bag shut. (At least for a while she'll try it.)  
  
Heero's P.O.V.  
  
Heero sat tensely next to Rei and kept one eye on her while watching the rest of the room with the other. (She could have died if I had not been there. We both would have died if Zechs hadn't been either.) He frowned and part of his focus went to Zechs. (Is he trying to get me off guard? Maybe. To early to tell.)  
  
His eyes swept over Quatre on the other side of the room, figuring with the jars and talismans to see if he could complete any more 'vessels' as Rei had called them. Slight irritation and confusion passed across the boy's face and Heero turned his full attention, if discreetly, towards him. Quatre slowly turned his head to watch Relena.  
  
(What is it, Quatre?)  
  
Heero broke the gaze and settled it back on Rei, who sat silent and still next to him, taking slow breaths. (Dead. She nearly died. I can't protect her.) He was suddenly angry, but slowed himself enough to suppress it. (Letting your emotions take over isn't a good way to go through problems.) He blinked slowly, letting the last of his small burst of anger dissipate. (Missions. Retrieve objects and capture enemies. Protect allies.) His eye wandered to Relena. (Be on guard.)  
  
Rei's P.O.V.  
  
Rei made sure of her heart and her breath before making sure she was even mentally stable. (I've fought armies of youmas before and even died a few times, but never have I been so scared as I just was. What was that? Why was I so afraid to die?) She closed her eyes. (Because this time you would have taken an innocent with you. No, two innocents, even worse.) She opened them again. (If we don't get out of here soon, someone is going to die. I can't have that.) She slid off the box and all eyes went to her.  
  
"We need to move on." Everyone, save Relena stood up and nodded. The latter straightened a second later and looked around, looking slightly confused.  
  
"Already? Are you sure you don't want to rest some more?" Relena asked, concern filling her voice.  
  
Rei paused before answering. (What's this?) "I'm fine. Quatre, did you complete any more vessels?"  
  
The blonde stood up and picked the bag up gingerly. "Cloth and Oil. None of the other talismans fit any of the jars."  
  
Rei nodded. "Then we need to get those Ixupi down." She paused a moment and looked around. "I don't like it, but we need to split up."  
  
Heero tensed. "No." He commanded.  
  
Rei turned to him. "It's the fastest way. The sooner we get out of here, the less chance-" She cut herself off. "We need to."  
  
"The boy has a point." Treize spoke up from the far wall. "If you were to have another attack-"  
  
"Impossible." Rei stopped him. "The Ash Ixupi has been sealed and unless someone else had an element dumped all over them, that situation shouldn't ever happen again." (Shouldn't.) She thought suddenly.  
  
"I agree with Treize." Relena smoothed her skirt and stood up straight. "This place is too dangerous to be splitting up. We did it once, and I'm grateful no one was hurt. But we can't expect luck like that all the time."  
  
Rei watched her. (No wonder she's a. What was it? Oh, a Vice Foreign Minister. She could've gotten a Grammy for that.) "But staying together will take more time, and as I said, being in here longer will increase the chances that we'll run into something worse than zombies and Ixupis."  
  
Quatre sighed. "Why don't we all go downstairs. We can put off negotiations until we have all cooled off a little." He looked not-quite- pointedly between Relena and Rei.  
  
Trowa nodded. "He's right. We should get out of this room."  
  
"It's hot." Wufei said suddenly. He moved towards the door. "I'll be waiting at the elevator." And he left.  
  
Rei watched the door close. (What is with him? Maybe I shouldn't ask.)  
  
Heero also saw the suddenly troubled boy. (Is being near Treize bothering him that much?) He had heard about Wufei's defeat at the hands of Treize. (Is that why he is so tense?) Heero's gaze locked onto Zechs. (I can't blame him.)  
  
Rei sighed. "We should go too." And the room silently emptied.  
  
Even the hallway seemed constricting as they filed out. As though sensing it, Duo grins and turns to Rei. "Hey, babe, if you're still tired, I can carry you." He was actually reaching for her before she realized he was serious.  
  
She pushed him away, smiling faintly as he hit the wall. "I'm fine." He flashed his grin again and put his hand on his head.  
  
"Just a suggestion."  
  
Wufei stood around the corner, holding the elevator open. "About time." He muttered and stepped in.  
  
Rei couldn't help but notice as she followed in, Relena carefully maneuvering to be on Heero's right side. It hit Rei a moment later. (She hasn't said anything about his bandage yet.)  
  
True enough, a split second later, Relena let out a deep gasp. "Heero! You're hurt! What happened?" She grasped his arm and pulled it up for inspection. She glared at Rei accusingly. "You let him get hurt."  
  
"He got hurt on his own." Wufei defended from the other side of the elevator.  
  
To verify the words, Heero jerked his arm out of Relena's hold. "Hn."  
  
Looking slightly uncomfortable, Zechs leaned off the opposite wall of the elevator. "She was only concerned."  
  
Heero's glared snapped up to the older man. "She doesn't need to be."  
  
Rei moved slightly out of her corner and as far between the two as she could get without giving Duo an open target. "Can you two calm down? I, for one, would like to avoid a gun fight in an elevator." The elevator chimed off a floor as if in agreement. "And Relena," Rei turned to the said girl, now glaring sullenly at the door. "Heero's a big boy; he can take care of himself, though I'm sure he appreciates the concern." She punctuated with a glare to the boy.  
  
The elevator chimed again and stopped with a thump on the ground floor. The doors opened to the steel hallway and Quatre, in front of the group, hesitated before moving out. The others followed quietly. Treize politely allowed Rei to go before him, leaving him and Wufei as the last ones in the elevator. One hand on the door, he stopped Wufei with the other.  
  
"I know why you are upset. Gain control over your feelings and stop it. You are accomplishing nothing with your attitude."  
  
Wufei jerked his arm away. "You know nothing about me."  
  
Persistent, Treize snatched his arm again. "I know enough to understand that you hate defeat. You despise that you were unable to overcome me, and my being here only reminds you of it."  
  
"Only those who are weak hate."  
  
"Then why are you acting this way? I know you are not weak." Treize let his arm drop, and Wufei turned away.  
  
Saying nothing, he left the older man there and passed around the corner. Treize waited a moment and followed. He saw Wufei slip through a small opening in the wall and into a somewhat small library. Treize paused there.  
  
Out in the lobby, everyone sat silently around. Duo leaned against the showcase, scuffing his feet against the floor, Quatre was standing patiently by the fountain, Trowa stood against the wall, partially obscured by shadows, Heero stood solemnly not far from the showcase, and Zechs was apart from the others, looking across the room at the spiral staircase. Rei leaned on the showcase, not far from Duo, and Relena was a bit away from her, standing quietly at the base of the stairs. Wufei stepped down from the library and sat at the base of those stairs, on the other side from Relena.  
  
Quatre looked up at him. "Where's Treize?"  
  
There was a small noise and Treize stepped from the library doors. "I wanted to look at a book I saw there." He explained easily.  
  
"And?" Heero pressed.  
  
"Nothing interesting." Treize focused on Rei a moment, as though considering what to say. "What happens now?"  
  
She paused. "I'm not sure. I still think we should split up..." She glanced around at the others. "But, I'm not a dictator, so..." She trailed off, holding up her hands in slight defeat.  
  
"Getting through this place faster doesn't make it safer." Heero said decisively. "Though moving around in a large group will be slow," His eyes ran over the assembly. "It will decrease the chance of being picked off."  
  
"Then, I guess it's settled." Rei nodded. "If it's better to be together, then it should be."  
  
Heero tensed. "It wasn't an order."  
  
Rei smiled softly. "I hardly know what's best. Lead the way, gun- boy." She bowed slightly, but pulled back up as Duo tilted his head. "Stop that!" She swiped at him, but he leaned away, smirk firmly in place.  
  
*Sigh* It wasn't exactly one of my longer chapters, but you have to be grateful-I wasn't planning on posting this until this weekend. But, through a series of very nice events, (mostly the library being empty during lunch) I was able to get more work in on this than I had expected. So, here it is! I did some revisions and the first time around, I decided it was way too intense. So, I added a little humor here and there. Hope you like it! (And thanks to everyone who reviewed! I made it to the big 100!!!) 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
  
Only fifteen minutes later did the group settle back down in the lobby, now with two more filled vessels. Everyone stood more or less away from Relena, who had been silently accused of trying to shove Rei in the Tar pit, though Rei continued to insist she had only tripped over the brontosaurus's leg, (though waxed figures normally don't kick out, or wear hard soled shoes), Rei admitted to herself and shook her head. (We only have three filled jars. How many more do we have to fill?) She sighed inwardly. (Too many.)  
  
"Where do we go next?" Heero asked loudly, getting everyone's attention and pulling Rei from her thoughts.  
  
Rei sighed again. "So many places..." She closed her eyes, but they snapped open a second later and focused on Zechs. "Do you know of a game called Hi-Q?" She asked hopefully.  
  
But her expression dropped as he shook his head. "No...It doesn't sound familiar."  
  
"Is it a marble game?" Treize asked from next to the showcase. Rei nodded. "I know how to play it."  
  
Rei pulled in a breath. "Can you beat it?"  
  
Treize nodded. "Yes. I played it as a child."  
  
Rei smiled widely. "Good! Come on!" She dashed off towards the stairs, sprinting up them and waiting at the top for the others to catch up. "There's a jar inside a bear in the Burial Rites exhibit, but you have to beat the Hi-Q game to get inside it." Rei hastily explained as the group passed through the doors and into the Egypt exhibit.  
  
She drew open the stone door a the top of the stairs, careful not to look too carefully at the puzzle, lest she activate it. "It's just down here." Rei said over her shoulder, surprised at the sudden fit of happiness that had grasped her. (Why am I so happy? Duh.) She smiled. (Because getting this puzzle out of the way will cut down how much time we are stuck in here.) She stopped in front of the large wooden bear. "In this drawer." She pulled out a drawer from the base and stood back.  
  
Treize looked at her a moment, and stepped in front. Rei moved around him and waited off to the side. "This may take a few tries. I have not played this game for years." He quietly explained as he pressed the button to bring up the marbles.  
  
Rei nodded and stood patiently. By now, everyone was waiting in the room. Heero moved off the stairs to stand slightly behind her and he looked down at Treize. "How long?"  
  
"I don't know." The man now crouching on the floor responded. "It has been a while."  
  
"Not too long." Wufei directed from the stairs.  
  
Treize ignored him.  
  
Rei bit her lip and shifted. (Everything is so tense.) She noticed Relena begin to inch her way towards Heero. (Here it comes.) About to move over, Rei suddenly found herself unwilling to move. (Why should I let her have him?) She bit her lip. (What am I thinking? After we get out of this place, I'll probably never even see him again!) Her eyes drifted to her left, to his emotionless face, and Prussian blue eyes fixed on the bending down on the floor. Slowly, the eyes shifted to meet Rei's.  
  
She felt herself staring back into them. A soft chime seemed to echo in her head and Rei smiled. The ice inside Heero's gaze seemed to melt and Rei felt a smile pull at her lips. "Wow."  
  
A low chuckle sounded and Rei managed to pull her eyes away and blush as everyone in the room seemed to be laughing at the pair. Something soft brushed her leg and she jumped back, realizing how close she and Heero were. She bumped the lion coffin behind her and continued to blush furiously.  
  
Relena stood behind Heero, and had only noticed the pair after it was too late to stop them. (She was right up against him! How could he even stand for that! She's practically kissing him already! I have to do something.) She pursed her lips. (Now.) "Look, I don't know what you think you're doing, but-" She pulled in a breath and stepped around to Heero's side. "Whether you like it or not, we 'all' will be returning to our homes when you finally manage to get us out of here. So whatever relationship you are trying to make with him, it's best you stop this childish nonsense now." She snatched her arm around Heero's for emphasis.  
  
Rei leaned against the lion and listened to the speech without interruption. But something struck a chord in her and she turned her head away as the girl finished. (Why am I upset over this? I have been telling myself this all along.) But hearing it come from another snapped Rei back to reality and she didn't like the feeling. (Relationship?! Why does she think I'm trying to form a relationship?! I can't help it if I happen to look at him sometimes! Why does she have to keep me from the only thing I want here?!) The anger built up and fed off the silence in the room. (It's just not FAIR!) She clenched her fist and suddenly the burial pyre next to Wufei and Trowa burst into flames.  
  
Rei started and stared at the flames that were now beginning to die down. Everyone had jumped out of the way in time to keep from getting singed. The silence once again descended as, strangely, the fire shrank back into the boat, leaving nothing but ashes in its place.  
  
"What. Was. That." Duo asked slowly, a hand on his chest trying to calm himself.  
  
Relena suddenly spun and rebounded on Rei. "What did you do?!" She shrieked.  
  
Rei leaned back in surprise. "I-" (Why don't I just tell them? She's right; I'll never see them again anyways.)  
  
"Don't be ridiculous." Heero stated firmly, belatedly pulling his arm free of her grasp.  
  
"Relena, that's physically impossible. Rei was all the way across the room." Quatre explained calmly, yet with an air of irritation.  
  
"But-but I saw her face! She was furious! And she jerked her hand just as the fire started!" Relena exclaimed, trying to make the others see her logic. (It's so obvious!)  
  
"Relena." Zechs said evenly. "No matter what Rei was doing, it is impossible to start a fire from the other side of the room." He crossed his arms in finality.  
  
The silence once again came upon them. Treize sighed heavily. Picking up the talisman, he pulled the bag up form the floor, and dropped it carefully in. "Whatever just happened," He closed the bag slowly. "We still need to move on. Where next?"  
  
Rei hesitated. (I'll have to thank him later.) "We go through the Witch Doctor exhibit. Codes Quatre got earlier will open a door."  
  
Quatre frowned. (What.) "Oh! Those words I got from the video camera. Will we have to put them in the drums?"  
  
"Drums?" Both Zechs and Treize questioned.  
  
Rei waved her hand vaguely. "It's in the next room. You'll see."  
  
"Then we go." Heero said and quickly sidestepped between Rei and Treize towards the door. After a moment, everyone else followed. Treize waited patiently until he was last, and looked for a moment at the now- scorched boat.  
  
"I thought so."  
  
Done! Finally! This chapter is all you people who have been buggin me to put in Rei's powers!!! I even changed the ending!! But don't feel too proud, I was actually considering using her powers even before you started bugging me! *Sigh* Anyway, now that I got that out, I want to thank Goodbye, who noticed a little mistake I made. You're right, Rei never did really find out Relena was Vice Foreign Minister, but I went back all the way to chapter 3 and added a few words. She knows now. Big thank you for pointing it out. And I'm not sure, but someone asked how old the real Shivers game is. It's definitely not a new game, but it's not ancient. I would say maybe.'96 or somewhere around there. But I'm not sure. Well, as for the chapter, I had intended it to be longer, but all the ideas I had when I started writing it, had flown out of my by the time I got to the end. So, I apologize for the shortness. *Sigh and Stretch* I hoped you liked it anyway. I really have to get some sleep now, so review me okay!  
  
Oh!! I want to ask you people. Is there anyone out there who remembers the name of that big bad guy in Mulan? The Hun guy? I just can't remember him name. Well, if you know let me in so this will stop bugging me! 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
  
The group stood in the Witch Doctor exhibit, sighing and shifting impatiently as Duo tried to argue with Heero.  
  
"But I can play it!" Duo insisted loudly, reaching around Heero to get the piece of paper with the drum sequence.  
  
"The longer you stand in my way, the longer we will be here." Heero growled.  
  
"Just let him play it, Heero..." Quatre sighed from the wall. "If he starts messing around, then you can pull him off."  
  
Heero hesitated, which gave Duo the opportunity to snatch the paper. "Alright! Let's see...uh..." He glanced from the paper, up to the drums, and focused on the original player, sitting behind the drums. Behind the set, an off-color witch doctor doll sat. He had scraggly hair down the back of his head, two small bones pierced through his pointed nose and a small mass of black hair set on his chin. Two heavy drum sticks were crossed in his hands. Duo snickered at the figure and glanced at Heero. "Hehe...kind of reminds you of J, doesn't he?"  
  
Heero didn't respond, but did give the character a long, hard look.  
  
Rei frowned from the wall opposite Quatre. (Who is this J person?) She turned to ask Treize, but his equally confused expression made her question pointless to ask. (I'll have to ask Heero later.)  
  
"Just play the sequence, or I will do it." Heero commanded firmly, obviously not amused by the likeness of Doctor J to the stuffed witch doctor.  
  
Duo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah..." He gave a short sigh and plucked a drum stick from the witch doctor's shriveled hand. "Ti, ka, ka...we, bo, ka..." He slowly sounded out the drum beats. Then, biting his lip, he gently beat out each one on the correct drum. "Next one is...ti, bo, ti," He thumped on the two drums needed. "And we, ka, we, ti." He tapped the last beats out and smiled a little too smugly as the section of wall Relena happened to be leaning on gave way and she dropped to the floor with a short cry of surprise.  
  
She looked indignantly up at Rei as the others made their way over. "You know you could have told me this was where the door would open!" She hissed.  
  
Rei rolled her eyes and leaned down towards Relena. She lowered her voice. "I did tell you remember? But you just 'hmph'ed at me and looked away." Rei flashed a classic 'I-told-you-so' look and reached out her hand to help Relena up.  
  
Relena pursed her lips and stood up on her own.  
  
Trowa watched the exchange silently from a few steps away. (Relena will not be able to stay passive for long, especially if she really believes Rei started that fire.) He stopped a frown that edged its way to the front of his mind and followed an unnaturally happy Duo, who had gotten an eyeful of interest when Rei had leaned over to explain to Relena.  
  
The room that had opened was oddly colored, with an ugly red clay tint to the walls and ceiling. The floor was deep blue and so were a set of stairs that disappeared into a passage in the wall. A large jade dragon was set on a stand in the corner, which would have looked valuable, had it not been chipped and scratched in several places. A stone head, or two heads rather, set on the floor next to the door. It was of a Norse god, a man with a face on either side of his head and a horse beneath each side. On the other side was a perfect, most likely fake, skeleton. It had on a metal helmet and its bony hand clutched a spear to its side.  
  
"There's a Wood Ixupi in the figure across from the dragon." Rei called from behind Zechs and the group directed their attention there. A statuette of a man holding up a boat stood on the corner that led the room away from their line of sight.  
  
Heero nodded to the others and stepped forward, gun drawn. A few cautious moments and all decided it was clear. Quatre and Trowa had already investigated the small room up the three stairs in the wall. A large, ornamental harp and a wooden bull stood in the otherwise bare room.  
  
"Rei!" Quatre called. "Come look at this." Rei leaned her head around the corner and moved into the room, stepping over the few stairs in the doorway.  
  
Rei stretched her arms. "What? The harp?"  
  
"Yes, it plays on its own." Trowa explained, turning away to focus back on the harp.  
  
"You have to play Repeat with it, and that bull will open to give you a talisman." Rei pointed at the large bull in the corner.  
  
"Okay then." Quatre sighed and turned back to the harp.  
  
Trowa backed away to the wall and let him have space. Quatre reached out and plucked a string, and the harp immediately responded by sounding a short melody, then stringing a single note. Quatre repeated this note and then another two played. He played these two as well and continued playing until he was up to eight notes. He hesitated over the last one. (This one? Or was it this one?) He moved his hand back and forth between the two strings, but finally decided on the one to the right. The harp right away played, not the next sequence, but a somber melody too complicated to copy note to note.  
  
"Hey, I think you did it!" Duo looked over at the bull hopefully, but it remained closed.  
  
"No, I messed up." Quatre sighed and plucked another string to start it up again. This time, he made it past the eight note mark and all the way to ten notes, and after the last string played, the harp sounded out an upbeat melody something creaked from the far side of the room.  
  
Rei turned her head just fast enough to see a black mass shoot at her and splat against her chest. "What is..." She reached down and tried to pull at the thing, but she couldn't get her fingers under it and the thing only spread further to cover all of the white cloth that had covered her chest.  
  
Suddenly, the cold hit her. A piercing, icy cold darted through her chest and worked its way down to her Mars crystal. (No!) She dug harder at the black substance, but it clung to her to tightly. The beating of her Mars crystal dimmed and her breath came ragged as her energy was pulled up in her chest. (No! I can't let you take me!) Rei clenched her teeth and dug her fingernails into the thing, finally getting a hold on it. (Get off my power!) Wrenching the substance off her chest, she flung it to the wall, where it darted away around the corner, closely followed by a barrage of gunshots, making craters in the wall.  
  
Silence descended on the room, broken only by Rei's heavy breathing and a few soft clinks as Heero absently put the new talisman in the bag.  
  
Rei slowly opened her eyes to see Heero crouched in front of her. "Say something." He commanded.  
  
"I'm cold." Rei suppressed a shiver, but failed as Heero's icy blue eyes cut into her. "Just cold."  
  
He waited a moment before continuing. "What was that?"  
  
"I...don't know." Rei closed her eyes and scanned through her memory for anything that would have gone after her very power like that.  
  
(She doesn't know?) Relena looked up at the words and stepped around Zechs to in front of Rei. "You don't know?" She tightened her hands. "What if that had been Heero, or any one of us? You told us you had done this all before, yet you have failed to recall anything other than the simple basics!"  
  
"Relena." Zechs warned.  
  
"There's a lot of things different!" Rei shouted, clenching her hands on the floor.  
  
"Why are we following you in the first place?" Relena turned her head to focus on the boys and men around her. "She didn't know about the zombie creatures, and now this thing shows up and she doesn't have a clue? We don't know anything about her! She's been leading us around by our noses, and she has only told us what we need to know to keep ourselves from dying! Please, someone tell me why we are following someone who could very easily be trying to kill us!" She looked around pleadingly.  
  
A tense silence once again descended. Rei closed her eyes tightly, her face hidden behind her hair. (Please, someone say something! My own defense means nothing now! Please help!) But no help came and Relena continued to look from face to face, looking for an answer.  
  
"Someone just tell me." She shrugged her shoulders, her face a mask of confusion.  
  
Rei swallowed hard. (Why am I leading them? That thing tried to take my power; I'm leading them into a trap everywhere I take them!) She opened her eyes, her face still hidden. (I can't do this to them.)  
  
"Well?" Relena asked and immediately, the temperature in the room shot up and everyone gasped as their lungs seemed to deflate in the sudden heat.  
  
Rei whipped around and hooked Heero in the stomach, pushing just enough power into it to take him down. (I'm sorry, Heero.)  
  
Snatching up the bag, Rei tore out of the room leaving plenty of power to keep them on their knees for a few moments.  
  
And it was at least a minute they were on the floor, trying to catch their breath. Eventually, the heat drifted away, and they stood up, wiping their faces of sweat.  
  
"What was...that?" Duo breathed.  
  
"I proved her to be an enemy...and she ran." Relena said heavily, straightening.  
  
"Exposing an enemy like that was a mistake." Heero said firmly. "You should have waited until she proved herself, then we would have all been ready for an extreme reaction."  
  
"I would say that was fairly extreme..." Quatre commented quietly.  
  
"Temperature controls." Trowa said decisively.  
  
"Huh?" Duo put his hand on the back of his head.  
  
"She was here before we dropped down." Trowa explained quietly. "She may know much more about this place than she initially told us."  
  
"I saw her clench her hand when the ship thing in the other exhibit blew up." Relena crossed her arms. "She must have had the control in her hand."  
  
"She's gone." Wufei called from the doorway.  
  
Heero closed his eyes. "Of course."  
  
Treize walked up behind him. "We ran all the way to the Burial Rites room, but she wasn't anywhere."  
  
"Like the temperature controls, she may know of some easier ways around the museum," Relena rolled her eyes. "If that's even what this place is." She sighed and looked at Heero. "What do we do now? She took the bag."  
  
Heero stood in the cool silence, as everyone waited for someone to fill Rei's place and tell where to go. (How could she hit that hard?) He recalled the heat that hit his stomach and turned to look at the hollow, now empty bull behind him. (Is she the enemy?) The waves of heat still coming off the wooden bull hit his skin and small goosebumps prickled his arm. He also recalled the subtle 'I'm sorry' Rei had slipped just before she slammed into him.  
  
Yey! I finally got this chapter done!!! I'm sorry for the long wait, but I haven't been able to work on it at all...(I know, excuses, excuses...) But I hope it was worth the wait! Okay, I will have to admit, this seems to be about the size of all my chapters recently, but it's better than nothing! Anyway, how do you like the little twist I added??? I thought it would make things interesting... Well, as always, review! 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
  
Rei stood in the shadows beneath the stairs, head in her hands, trying to sort out her thoughts. (I have Heero's gun, so I can defend myself, but what if I run into them? They'd probably shoot me for that stunt I pulled back there...) She sighed quietly, and looked over in the shadows by the entrance to the auditorium. There was a faint, almost imperceptible outline of a board there. (It's a good thing those holes are in the museum. I might not have gotten away...) She recalled hearing their heavy footsteps after her as she just managed to fit through the hole in the wall that only came up to her shins and was barely wide enough to allow her to slip through. (They might walk around up there for a moment, wondering where I am, but I still need to get up there!) Rei pictured the stone tablet only a few feet away from the harp room and silently wished she had paused to turn it as she passed.  
  
Dipping her head, Rei sighed again. (At least they're safe now. Nothing coming for my power will hurt them.) She looked down at the bag resting at her feet. (I just have to finish the game without running into them, and leave the way out open for them.) A sudden tightness rose in her chest as it hit her that the last thing she would ever give Heero was a blow to his stomach. She pursed her lips. (Get over it. But still...) She closed her eyes wistfully.  
  
Rei heard a loud creak from above her and caught her breath. (They're here already?!) She ducked back into the darkest shadows, spreading her hair over her front, hoping it would hide the red and white of her skirt. Holding her breath, she kept perfectly still as they paused at the landing at the top of the stairs, most likely surveying the room for her.  
  
"Clear..." Someone whispered above her and she took a small breath and held it again. (Stay calm.)  
  
Heero's P.O.V.  
  
Quatre had given up his own gun to Heero and remained in the back of the group as the others, excluding Relena, gave the lobby a good look-over before slowly descending the stairs.  
  
Earlier, they had decided to only injure Rei and force her to tell them who she worked for, when they found her. Relena had stayed quiet during the short discussion; though it was plain she wanted more than mere injury for Rei.  
  
(Rei had mentioned a way out when we met her, but she had told us once you were on the grounds, there was no way further. Why did we trust such nonsense?) Heero scorned himself, but kept his face blank as they trooped down the stairs. (How could I fall into such a trap?) Faint memories of the few comfortable moments he had had in this place flashed in his head, but Heero pushed them away. (It was all a trap.)  
  
Eyes continued to scan the room, even as they stood on the lobby floor, staring at the empty area. Duo sighed loudly. "Guys, she's probably already outside by now. Outside and in the nearest pawn shop or wherever she wanted to sell those jar things."  
  
"They did seem old." Quatre commented from the first stair. "She was most likely hired to steal them."  
  
There was silence as the truth settled in. "Come on. We still have to get out and decide how to get back to our homes." Heero took a step, and then paused. "Then find Rei and turn her in to the authorities, if necessary."  
  
"Then let's go." Zechs said shortly. He also took a step and waited for Heero to move on.  
  
"She said there was a way out on the other side of the lake in the basement." Heero explained, mostly to Zechs and Treize as they crossed the room.  
  
"Yeah, Rei led us down there to get some book from this really ugly corpse." Duo added from behind.  
  
"Another dead body?" Relena asked meekly.  
  
Duo turned to her, a slightly sadistic grin on his face. "Yeah. It's all black and rotted and-"  
  
"Duo." Heero warned sharply from the head of the group. (The last thing we need is Relena frightened.)  
  
Duo sighed heavily, and turned back around, exchanging amused glances with Quatre.  
  
Even Wufei had to stop a smile from working its way onto his face. (The girl deserves it. Look at what she did...) The thought surprised himself. (Wait. That woman was the enemy, and now she is gone. I should be pleased...) But, somehow, he had a feeling they had made a mistake.  
  
After they had all made their way into the elevator at the other side of the disheveled office, Duo began to find the silence pressing. "So how did you get here?" He asked Treize, who stood beside him, in the corner.  
  
The older man shrugged. "I was walking in the embassy, and a light blinded me. And I opened my eyes to see him." He nodded his head towards Zechs.  
  
Zechs gave them a side look. "The same for me." He frowned. "What could it have been?"  
  
"Someone knocked us out." Relena said simply. "They used gas or something, then dropped us in here, hoping it would be abandoned."  
  
"But Rei was here." Heero said quietly.  
  
The elevator punctuated his statement with a chime, and the doors opened to the same depressing, cerulean tunnel they had made their way through before. (That seems like such a long time ago...) Heero held in a frown. "Keep moving."  
  
They walked in line through the tunnels and ended up at the lakeside in a few minutes.  
  
"All of this? Under the museum?" Treize wondered aloud, looking around the large cavern.  
  
"Yes." Quatre stepped into the boat carefully. "According to Rei, the way to enter the museum is through this underground passage. And, hopefully, we will be able to exit through the same way she supposedly got in."  
  
Relena turned towards him from the front of the boat, next to Heero. "'Hopefully'? 'Supposedly'? What do you mean?"  
  
"She had said this place was nothing but a computer game, remember?" Trowa explained quietly.  
  
Relena rolled her eyes. "I remember. But how could you possibly-"  
  
"We have seen everything from zombie creatures that turn to dust when you shoot them, to invisible beings that suck the life from you." Heero fixed Relena in a cold stare. "We can't know anything until we get up there and out of this place." With that, he turned away and began turning the crank and pulling the boat across the water.  
  
Halfway across, Heero lifted his head suddenly and stopped turning. One by one, the others looked up. A soft melody was drifting through the cavern. "Relena, get back here." Quatre gently pulled her away from the front of the boat.  
  
"What? Why?" She protested.  
  
"I will take it." Wufei stepped around Heero to the spot vacated by Relena. "The creature and I have met before." Turning his body, he faced out to the water and searched the murky depths for the tell-tale green sparks.  
  
Heero hesitated, but turned the crank once more. The sound of sloshing water continued, even after the boat stopped, and Wufei took a slow breath. Once more, Heero turned the crank and a drift of green specks floated up to surround a splash of water hovering in mid air. With a furious roar, the Water Ixupi lashed out at Wufei, and disappeared back into the water.  
  
Taking a deep breath, he managed to stay on his feet this time, and nodded for Heero to continue.  
  
A few more turns and they were on the other side. "You okay?" Treize asked Wufei quietly as they stepped of the boat.  
  
Wufei looked at him a moment before responding. "Fine."  
  
"Hey look Relena..." Duo clamped am arm around her shoulders and began steering her towards the far corner, where Relena already saw a ragged body beginning to take form. "There's that-"  
  
"Duo." Heero commanded sharply, and the braided boy released her shoulders immediately.  
  
"I was just playing..."  
  
Zechs walked up to a rusty door in the cavern wall. "Is this the right door?" He turned to face Heero.  
  
"Hn." The boy silently brushed past him, shoving open the door. (So this is it. We will be leaving. I'll never see her again.) Luckily the room behind the door was pitch black, and no one saw his surprise. (Why am I thinking about her? She was...is an enemy. I know she is. She has to be...) For a few moments, a shade of doubt pulled at his chest. But he brushed it off just as Quatre flipped on the light switch on the cold stone wall.  
  
"Ow!" Duo jumped back away from a spiraling set of stone stairs. "Watch that first step..." He warned the others, rubbing his shin.  
  
"Let's go." Heero began up the stairs, and Quatre silently noted Heero's suddenly tired tone. (He's probably got that feeling too.) He started up himself. (Like we're doing something wrong.)  
  
A panel slid away at the top of the stairs, leaving a triangle of light. Heero stepped through it and moved away, letting the others come up behind him. Outside, they stood on a circular platform made up of several triangles, each with some abstract symbol on it. Water surrounded the platform, and three smaller circle platforms led to a nearby pier. There was a gazebo off the side of the pier and a large statue beyond that.  
  
Heero tested his weight on a small platform before stepping full onto it and jumping easily to the pier. The others followed him, Relena coming last, jumping unsteadily from one platform to the next. Heero paid her no attention as she scrambled up next to him. Instead he took in more of his surroundings. The statue was easily fifteen feet tall, and of a dark maroon, twisted loop. The pier gave way to a path that led for another twenty feet or so, then splitting, one way leading up to a large brick building. The other path led to the right, and right up to an old iron gate. "There." Heero pointed to it, at the same time, pulling his arm from Relena's hold.  
  
The group walked, somewhat unsteadily towards the gate, a feeling of apprehension thick between them. Heero stopped in front of it and suppressed a frown. A chain was wrapped around the middle bars, secured by a heavy lock.  
  
"Get back." Heero commanded, pulling out his gun and aiming for the lock.  
  
Okay! I'm going to cut it there... But it's chapter 16, so don't be surprised if I end it soon! So, how did you like it? I know, maybe they should have seen Rei, but it was some pretty dark shadows! Oh yeah, and to whoever asked, (I can't remember who), Zechs doesn't have his mask on. Well, that is it, I think... Anyway, please review! 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17  
  
Rei stayed in the shadows beneath the stairs for a long minute, even after she heard the elevator go down. (I can't take any chances.) But as the silence became increasingly irritating, she sighed heavily and stood up.  
  
(What to do first...) Looking around, she pursed her lips as she trotted over to the stairs. (I may as well get up and turn that stone before they come back.) Making her way up the stairs, she stopped suddenly at the top. (The bag!) Dashing back down the stairs, Rei silently cursed herself. (I've gotten too used to Relena carrying it. Keep your head straight...) Snatching it up, she once again, made her way up the stairs. Without bothering to look back, she shoved the door open and slammed it behind her.  
  
The slam echoed in the huge Egypt exhibit. Scowling at the ceiling, Rei was suddenly angry. (Here I am, in some tiny little skirt, in a computer game, collecting stupid jars, alone, without Heero-) She stopped at the top of the stairs leading to the Burial Rites. (Why do I keep thinking about him? He's with Relena now, and soon they'll go back to their nice little house, white picket fence, daisies popping up in the front yard...) She couldn't help but smile at the thought of Heero being locked up in what Rei pictured as Relena's ideal home. (Poor guy.) Hopping nimbly down the steps to the Burial Rites, she suddenly found herself happier. (Whoa, what if that girl wants a family when she grows up?!) The thought of Relena dragging Heero to bed was too much and Rei had to stop and laugh out loud.  
  
"I could just see her face..." She chuckled.  
  
Opening the door to the Witch Doctor room, she wiped at her eyes. (Maybe this alone thing isn't so bad...) She flashed a casual wave to the witch doctor behind the drums and laughed aloud once again. "Hey, doc..."  
  
In the Gods exhibit, the next room, Rei glanced inside the harp room as she passed it. (Come out, you little glob. I'll fry you this time.) She smiled, and gathered a bit of power in her hand, just in case. Around the corner, another set of stairs waited, these ones wide and sky blue. Rei walked up the short set and came face to face with a wax replica of Thor on horse-drawn chariot. Rei stopped to look at him. (Why am I so...giddy? Am I just happy to be alone to do this how I want?) She blinked slowly and her smile fell. (Or is it because now that they are separated from me, they're safe. The creatures coming for my power won't hurt them trying to get at me.) She sighed softly and turned away from Thor, down the side stairs into the next room.  
  
The whole room was tinted blood red and small wax imps seemed to dance along the wall. Only a large, white and blue painted rock, though it was about the size and shape of a coffin, gave the room any feeling of reassurance. Shadows jumped along its surface, trickling across the nonsense words written there. Rei jumped away for a moment, then realized it was the glow from the lights in the ceiling that were made to flicker, like firelight. Taking a deep breath, Rei stepped down into the room again and made her way across the room, ignoring the shadows that danced and seemed to reach out for her.  
  
(Keep calm, they're just shadows.) Her breath came heavy with apprehension as the shadows moved faster and more irregularly around her. (They're just shadows, nothing-)  
  
Something heavy hit her back and she sprawled forward. Twisting over, Rei kicked out instinctively, hitting the zombie in the shoulder. (Get up!) Her mind screamed, but another black creature held her to the ground. Rei arched her back up and swung her knees around the thing's neck. Yanking its head to the floor under her, Rei used the momentum to spring up and slash at another one coming at her from the side. The zombies slowed and began backing her into the corner as more popped out from behind the wax statues.  
  
A fleeting image of the boys running through the door and blowing the creatures to dust passed through Rei's mind as her back hit the wall. She swallowed hard and took a breath. (That's not going to happen. You have to take care of yourself.)  
  
The zombies continued to advance, their blackened bodies shuffling forward, mouths grinning and baring hideous teeth. (I can take care of myself!) Rei closed her eyes and clenched her hands, letting her power shiver to life inside of her. "Bring it on..." She hissed, and when the group of rotted figures jumped for her, she let her energy blast out around her, incinerating the zombies on the spot.  
  
She gasped suddenly, feeling the heavy weariness settle in her chest. Opening her eyes, Rei surveyed what was left of the room around her. Piles of dust covered the floor in front of her and there were two rows of melted wax along either wall. Rei sighed, satisfied with her work. Giving the room once more long look, she smiled, seeing she had gotten them all.  
  
She turned around to the stone, still perfectly white, and reached out for it. Heat radiated off its surface, so Rei didn't let her hands linger as she pulled gently on the side and flipped it around, so the front faced the wall and the back, also white and blue, faced her. The words were no longer gibberish, but translated into very ornate English.  
  
'Heed my words young one, hold thine head,  
  
Keep thy enemies close, one had said,  
  
But friends are dearer, more so than bread.'  
  
Rei looked at the words a minute, and rolled her eyes. "That is just a little cliché, don't you think?" Rubbing her face, she turned around and made her way out of the destroyed room.  
  
She picked up the bag easily and started out of the room. Eventually, Rei made it back to the lobby. But, before she pushed open the Egypt door, she put her ear to it and listened for voices. Only silence greeted her. (Aren't they back yet? Maybe they actually...)  
  
Throwing her hip against the door, Rei got it open and let it slid closed again after she slipped through. She set the bag on the floor and leaned over the edge of the balcony, looking over the room. (What if they actually could get out through the front gate? What if they are running home, while I'm here, poking my way through dusted zombies and clay jars?) She stepped slowly down the stairs and stopped next to the showcase. (They could be gone already...)  
  
She caught her breath as something rattled and a muffled voice sounded from somewhere. Then, several gunshots rang through the lobby and Rei hit the floor.  
  
Heero's P.O.V.  
  
"What could this thing be made of?" Duo asked incredulously, fingering the lock that had taken a dozen shots, yet only had a few vague scratches to show for it.  
  
"Look at it, the lock is half rusted; it should have broken after a single bullet." Quatre crossed his arms, speculating.  
  
Heero said nothing, only looked down at the gun in his hand before holstering it. "We'll have to go over it, then."  
  
"Trowa should do it." Quatre looked up at the boy in the back of the group. "You have experience with this sort of thing."  
  
Trowa nodded slowly. "I will need a boost. I couldn't possible jump that high."  
  
"I will." Zechs stepped up from the back of the group. "I am the tallest." He looked around at the others, and everyone realized he was right; Treize smiled and stood up straight, showing that he was about three inches shorter.  
  
Zechs moved up to the gate and looked up at it. Trowa stood silently beside him and looked up as well. "Are you ready?" He asked quietly.  
  
Zechs nodded, and leaned over a bit, lacing his hands together. "Step up."  
  
Doing so, Trowa balanced himself and reached up to grab onto the metal spikes that topped the gate. About to swing himself over, he threw a hand over the gate to balance, but stopped in midair and dropped gracefully back to the ground. He stared up at the gate in confusion.  
  
"What happened?" Zechs straightened and rubbed his hands.  
  
"There's something up there." Trowa's eyes narrowed in confusion. "It kept me from getting over the gate."  
  
"Let me up." Heero stepped forward. He and Zechs stared each other down until Quatre's loud cough brought them back.  
  
"Get on." Zechs once again leaned over and laced his hands together. Heero hesitantly stepped up on him, and reached his hand out over the gate. (Trowa's right...) His hand ran into something hard, a barrier, but he could only see plain air there. Dropping back down, Heero looked up at the gate and frowned. "It seems Rei was right." He stated simply.  
  
"Can't we get over the wall, then?" Relena suggested hopefully. "Maybe that barrier is only over the gate."  
  
"There's water underneath all of the walls." Quatre looked around.  
  
"And I, for one, am not setting any part of myself in that soup." Duo crossed his arms and nodded with determination. "Who knows what kinds of things are lurking down there."  
  
"We should try that building." Wufei advised. "If anything, we may find something that will help explain all this." He turned from them and began up the path, not waiting for anyone to agree.  
  
Heero hesitated, looking from his hand and back up at the top of the gate. (She said this was just a computer game. Is it even possible?) Wufei was at the steps to the building when Heero jogged up beside him. "Is it possible?" He asked quietly.  
  
Wufei paused. "We can't know anything until we get at that girl again." He started back up the steps and disappeared around the corner.  
  
(He's right. Stop doubting and find her.) Heero followed up the stairs, making sure to check back at the corner to see that all the others were following.  
  
The building's passages were open roofed, so every now and then, the group could look out and see the gate, or the platform they had come up out of. At what seemed to be the end of the passageways and stairs, there was a long, closed hallway, its walls decorated with scrawls of spray paint.  
  
Around the corner, Heero found Wufei stopped at the edge of a shadowed portion of the hallway. The bricks of the walls and floor were a deep blue and seemed to be more irregular in shape that the rest of the building. Heero also stopped at the edge, and looked over at Wufei.  
  
"They seem stable." He said simply, and Heero shifted his weight to test it in the shadowed area. When nothing happened, he moved all the way onto it, and looked back at Wufei.  
  
The others followed behind him and they turned into the small side space, and a few soft sighs sounded as their way was cut off by a dark blue door. Reaching out, Heero tried the handles. They clattered loudly in the silence. "Locked." He confirmed.  
  
"Then we have to open it." Wufei already had a gun out and Heero backed out of the way.  
  
Gunfire rang in the air, but no one else pulled out anything. Relena pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at the back of the group. (We just tried this on the lock. What makes him think it will work on this ugly door?) Wufei stopped firing after a moment and walked up to the door. Several, large holes surrounded the handles and he jerked the pair of metal rods out. Looking back, he fixed Relena with an arrogant stare, as though he had heard her thoughts.  
  
Relena couldn't keep the stare, so she looked away and focused on Heero's back instead. Her faint anger was soon replaced with self- importance. (So, looks like I won. He'd sooner shoot that slut than touch her.) A smile tugged at her lips. (The way it's supposed to be.)  
  
Hey, this chapter was originally supposed to be shorter, but someone requested some Relena time, so I added it real quick to the end of this chapter. I'll try to put some more in the next one. Anyway, some of you may guess what happened to Rei, but you will be surprised! Please review and let me know what you think so far! 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 (Warning: Lots of blood in this chapter, so beware, all my young readers!)  
  
Rei clenched her teeth against the scream that worked its way into her throat. Pain seared through her lower half and she glanced down to see harsh red blood splattered across her leg and the hand that now gripped at the source of her agony. (They shot me! Those freaking assholes shot me!) She grit her teeth harder against a shout of pain, and tried to concentrate on the muffled voices that came from somewhere nearby.  
  
"...believe...she got out...think?" Rei held her ragged breath as she recognized Duo's voice. The pain in her leg was now pounding and more blood seeped from beneath her hand.  
  
"...Possible." Heero's voice came low and intermittently through the blood racing through Rei's ears. (Calm down and get control! It hurts!) Swallowing hard, she concentrated on her surroundings. (Move. If they catch you-) Gripping her leg against the blood flow, Rei shifted further behind the showcase, allowing her breath only in small gasps. (Quiet! They'll hear you! They'll question you and they might shoot you again!) Her mind shot out thoughts and she cringed in anticipation. Trying to calm, Rei closed her eyes slowly and tried to block out the throbbing in the lower half of her body.  
  
Footsteps clicked on the floor behind Rei and she slowly opened her eyes again. (Get out. Auditorium!) She focused on the stairs in front of her, but clenched her teeth harder as she realized she would be putting herself in plain view, if only for a few seconds, if she tried to pull herself there. (I don't have a choice.)  
  
Reaching over, Rei slowly wrapped her hand around the bag's strap, and bit her lip against a cry as the movement brought shocks of pain down her leg. (Ignore it, pull yourself together, get moving...) She repeated the thoughts as she slowly drew the bag towards her.  
  
"What now?"  
  
The sudden voice came loud in Rei's ears and she started, not only sending another jolt of pain through her leg, but her other hand faltered, creating several, very obvious clinks as the rest of the bag collapsed against the floor. (Oh, sh-)  
  
A few more clicks sounded, these ones coming from above Rei's lowered head. She looked up unsteadily to see several gun barrels and very stoic faces behind them.  
  
"Get up." Heero's voice commanded coldly.  
  
Her hand gripped harder against the blood and Rei silently cursed herself as agony pushed tears behind her eyes. (Stop it! Never let them see that!) Swallowing hard, she took in a slow breath. "I. Can't. You shot. Me." She kept her voice level, but lifted her face to glare at Heero defiantly.  
  
His eyes shifted and Rei was suddenly aware of someone kneeling at her side. She looked over and surprise dulled the pain for a moment, as Treize looked at her with genuine concern, his hand drifting around Rei's own clutching to her leg.  
  
"She needs to get that bullet out." He said decisively and looked up at Heero. Silence and a glare met his statement.  
  
Rei looked down at the wound and realized with a sudden burst of panic, that blood had now covered her thigh and created a good sized puddle on the floor beneath it. The raw pain increased drastically with the sight and she bit down hard, breathing forcefully through her teeth.  
  
Heero looked back at Rei, her eyes closed tight in agony. His gun wavered. Old words rang in the back of his head. ('Stop it! What do you wanna shoot him for?!') "What do you want to shoot her for..." He whispered lowly. He let the gun fall to point harmlessly at the floor.  
  
As Heero's gun lowered to his side, Treize pulled his attention back to Rei. The girl was only half paying attention to her surroundings and seemed to be focused on the blood that was now pouring from beneath her hand. "Need to get that bullet out." He repeated softly.  
  
Rei gripped her leg tighter. (No! I can't let them make me dependant on their help!)  
  
"What are you waiting for?!" Relena's voice suddenly cried. Rei glanced up to see the girl standing behind Heero, arms crossed. "Didn't we already decide this?! Shoot her and question her! We went over this!"  
  
"The first part is already done, Relena." Zechs said from behind Rei and his footsteps thudded as he too knelt by her. "We can dress the wound and-"  
  
"No! I won't let you!" Zechs leaned away from the flurry of fine, black hair that suddenly swept up. Rei snatched a hand around Treize's neck and held Heero's missing gun in her bloody right hand. Pressing it to the man's head, her breath shook with her body, even as blood now flooded from the bullet wound, coloring her whole leg. She jerked back towards the stairs down to the auditorium.  
  
The pain became unbearable and Rei settled for clenching a fist around Treize's shirt collar. Hot pain flowed down her leg with the blood and her breath came intermittently. An abstract piece of her mind noted Treize's oddly submissive behavior. He could have easily thrown her to the ground, but instead stood with his back arched, keeping his head easily within her reach. His hands were held out from his body, open and unarmed.  
  
Rei's interest once again put her mind above the pain and she gained control of her breath. The others now had their own guns out and were slowly advancing on her.  
  
"We just spared you, woman, don't give us a reason to shoot you again." Wufei threatened in a low voice. He took a step forward, gun already aimed, obviously not caring how Rei had Treize at gunpoint.  
  
"Let him go, Rei." Quatre softly coaxed. "We are going to help you."  
  
"No!" Rei yelled again. "You can't!" She screamed, almost trying to drown out the pain pounding through her leg. "You will only get hurt if you stay around me!" Her foot suddenly felt the sharp drop of the first step behind her. "In danger.." The thought came out half formed and she leaned back and tried to get down the steps, but only succeeded in practically falling down them and dragging Treize with her, the door at the bottom, luckily, keeping her from falling all the way to the floor. The pressure of the landing shot needles through her, and a strangled whimper worked its way from her throat. "You're all in danger..." She whispered softly.  
  
"Stop this, Rei." Treize suddenly murmured. "How can you keep in control when you are upset like this?" He asked innocently.  
  
"He's right." Rei jerked her head up to see Zechs creeping down the stairs, gun carelessly in one hand. "You are going to lose too much blood if you keep going like this. Just stop and we'll-"  
  
"Aren't you hearing me?!" Rei screamed again, now shaking more than ever. "You are in danger if you stay around me!"  
  
"We'll take that danger!" Heero replied angrily, jumping nimbly down the steps.  
  
Rei pushed back away from them, but only succeeded in jerking open the door, where she fell back to the floor, pulling Treize down with her. He fell out of her hands and she didn't reach for him again.  
  
She lay there for a moment and drowsiness suddenly took over her mind, sending the pain drifting away. She felt warm all over and smiled softly. (Well. So this is what it's like to die... At least now no creatures will kill them...because of me...) She sighed and her smile stayed firmly on her lips.  
  
After Rei fell, Heero was at her side and immediately checked her pulse. He breathed relief and looked up to see the others already jumping down the stairs, Treize was now next to him, his cloak off and against the wound. Zechs was on Rei's other side, also checking her wrists for a pulse. "Sleeping." He glanced up at the trail of thick red blood Rei had left in her struggle. "The bullet must have hit an artery." He said simply, as though this was obvious knowledge, and Heero nodded in agreement. Their gazes met over Rei's body and they locked.  
  
(He is still an enemy. But...) Heero broke the stare and looked down at Rei, her body moving slowly with regular breaths. (Rei was considered an enemy also.)  
  
Duo watched them from the door. There was nothing to be done, except watch, along with Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei. (Wait a sec. Where's Relena?) He tilted his head and looked up the bloody path Rei had left on the stairs and saw Relena, standing angrily at the head of the crimson stream, which dripped down and flowed in small rivulets down the yellow-gold stairway. (Why...did we ever think Rei was the enemy?) Duo frowned and looked back at the bloodstained body of the pale, strong girl. (She was helping us, and we thought she was an enemy! Why did we ever believe all that stuff?) He looked back up at Relena.  
  
Relena did not see the stares the other boys gave her. She only concentrated on the way Heero held Rei's wrist, if only checking her pulse, and how he supported her neck under his knee. (I can't believe this! One minute they all hate her, then she gets a little hurt, gets blood all over the place, and now they are all up close again! How could they act like this?!) She made her way down the stairs, carefully avoiding the rivers of blood that ran there.  
  
Quatre watched Relena descend the stairs slowly, eying the harsh red blood with little more than distaste. (How can she be so calm?) He frowned as the girl stopped and stood tensely on the other side of the door. He pursed his lips and looked back at Rei's pale body.  
  
Treize could practically feel Wufei's eyes burning into his back. (The boy was ready to fight whether I died or not. Did he figure she wouldn't kill me, or did he truly not care?) He frowned into the blood- soaked cloak pressed into Rei's leg. But his attention was called down to something else. (What?) Blood no longer blossomed spots in the cloth, and nothing ran down her leg anymore. Slowly, he removed the bundled cloak.  
  
Heero saw Treize slowly remove the pressure from the coat and Heero darted out to stop him, but halted his own action as he saw what was left of the bullet hole.  
  
"Impossible..." Quatre breathed. He and the others had quickly moved to Rei's side.  
  
The bullet hole was now half the size of an average wound, but the bullet itself wasn't imbedded into her leg, as it should have been. Instead, the round, metallic base was pushed back up in the hole, and climbing slowly outwards, as though Rei's body were physically pushing it out from the inside. Finally came the dully pointed end, and it rolled off her leg and landed on the floor with a soft clink.  
  
"Man, that is just a little too creepy for me..." Duo commented quietly as he straightened and backed away a step.  
  
And, with a slight impression of finality, the bullet hole squeezed closed, leaving only the blood to show there was ever a wound at all. Heero delicately reached out and tapped the new skin there. Brushing away the blood with his thumb, he ran his fingers along her skin.  
  
"Don't suppose you got a fancy explanation for this, do you?" Duo looked sarcastically up at Relena, who stood, just as amazed, behind Heero. She responded with a simple glare.  
  
There! How did you like it? Hope it wasn't too bad for any squeamish readers out there... But I said so in the beginning, so don't say I didn't warn you. ^_^ Anyway, I hoped you liked the details, I was trying to give you a real nice perspective, and I got a p.o.v. from almost everyone! Don't worry Wufei fans, he'll have a nice part in the next chapter. And I do apologize for any OC-ness you may see, I tried to keep everyone In-C, but let me know if I missed anything. And if you think Rei was acting a little strange... Well, she was losing a lot of blood at the time! That can mess up anybody's attitude! Anyway, I must thank every single one of my reviewers, this story finally passed up my best, One Summer Day, and with only half the chapters! Thank you all! Oh, and to Purple Hotagi, (I think that's right) yes, not very many SM characters here, but I like it this way. I don't know why, I just wanted to write this with Rei in the spotlight. Anyway, thanks for the long, and very constructive review! Thanx! And the same to all my other lovely reviewers! Give me another one! Tell me how I'm doing! (Whew! That was a pretty long A/N!) 


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19  
  
"So, what do we do with her?" Duo's question was met with silence, and he sighed as he dropped heavily into a chair.  
  
Wufei glanced at him, but didn't bother to respond to the question. His eyes drifted along the floor beside him and up the stairs on the other side of the doorway. (All this blood. All of it is on my hands. Why did I so quickly resort to using a gun on that door? If I had only-) He quickly turned his head away from the crimson trail, which was now beginning to dry into a dull brown path. (If. No point in thinking like that. But still.) He resisted a frown. (If I had gotten through Treize, we could have stopped that crazy woman from hurting herself even more, and we would have answers now, instead of waiting for her to wake up!) Anger flared up momentarily, then subsided. Wufei felt his head dip slightly in shame. (But I was too weak to do what was needed. Why didn't I kill him?)  
  
(He would have killed me.)Treize thought, almost bitterly. (This is not the place for rivalries.) His eyes went to the bloodstained bullet now rolling back and forth in Heero's palm. (And this is certainly not the time.)  
  
The blanket of warmth that had covered Rei, slowly slid away, leaving her feeling vaguely vulnerable. Groaning softly, she lifted a suddenly heavy hand to her forehead. Something hard stuck to her skin, and crumbled when she carefully closed the hand. Rei's eyes fluttered open and she took in a breath at the sight of reddish-brown stains across her hand and forearm. The memory of what happened hit her, and Rei shot up, looking around. Everyone was sitting or standing around the middle of the auditorium, and Rei noticed she had been moved from the spot where she fell, to a less bloody patch of floor. Heero sat nearby, one hand fisted, staring at her.  
  
"What are you?" He asked simply, voice steady.  
  
The feeling drained out of Rei's face as the question sunk in. (What happened, wait!) Her eyes snapped to her leg, where the searing pain that had clutched her earlier was now gone. "What happened?" She asked quietly, reaching out to touch her leg. "There's no wound. What. Happened." She asked, this time forcefully.  
  
They seemed to be taken back by her question, and no one responded. Rei quickly ran down her Mars abilities, but could not recall any time she had been able to heal herself.  
  
"We would be asking you the same thing." An annoyingly familiar voice replied from a few rows back. Relena sat up straight, her head appearing above the seats.  
  
Rei's irritation rose. "Well, in case you didn't notice, I happened to be unconscious for the past..."  
  
"Ten minutes." Zechs supplied from a seat.  
  
"Thank you. Ten minutes, and I think I missed this." Rei waved her hand at her leg, indicating the absence of her wound.  
  
"You, your body, pushed out the bullet." Heero explained quietly. He opened his hand and tossed Rei the bullet. She caught it awkwardly and brought it up to her face.  
  
(Impossible.)  
  
"Let me guess." Relena stood up and crossed her arms. "You don't know what happened."  
  
"No, I-"  
  
Rei's breath was suddenly snatched from her, and she pitched forward. Opening and closing her mouth, she tried to pull in a breath, but her lungs wouldn't comply. "Wha-" She managed to force out, but the rest of the word was a strangled groan. Her vision blurred and she could feel the darkness laughing inside of her. (Hmm. What to do now? Suffocation, no breathing, don't give a...) Rei swallowed hard, but felt no air come with the mouthful. Struggling to fill her lungs, the voice continued to laugh in her head.  
  
'Darkness' Rei mouthed and tears filled her eyes as blood pounded through her ears. Through the blurry screen, Rei could make out Heero's form above her, looking down with concern, and suspicion. 'Help' she tried to force out, but a black mist filled her sight, and she could feel her power being pulled from her chest. The mist pulsed in her eyes and she tried again to pull in a breath. Faintly, Rei could feel the darkness reaching out, extending, and pulling at the person closest to her. 'No!' Yanking up energy, Rei shoved Heero away from her, sending him into a nearby chair. Spots worked behind her eyes, but Rei heaved herself to her feet. Extending both hands, palms up, she threw power around the group, and heat flew into her own face. Turning as quickly as she could, Rei stumbled along the aisle, still trying to ignore the burning in her chest and eyes. She ran into something hard, and wrapped her hands around it, the stage railing. She could feel the floor swaying beneath her, but clutched harder to the railing. Her power now beat in her chest, sending jolts with every heartbeat. Heat boiled her skin and feeling her peak, Rei grit her teeth and jerked up even more power. Pain shook in her head, and her feet threatened to fall out from under her. The burning in her chest pulsed harder. Her power pushed against its barrier, and finally released.  
  
Heat flew around her body and through her hair. The darkness shivered and broke away from her, spiraling up in the air above her, and cool air suddenly filled her lungs. A shattering howl rocked through the auditorium, and the shadow was gone. The air was rough and cold , and Rei coughed heavily. "I have to get away from here..." She whispered hoarsely, one hand against her sore throat. She looked to her left, towards the center of the auditorium, and saw the others, all of them, standing together in the aisle. If it weren't for the shimmering wall of heat surrounding them, Rei would have wondered what they were doing.  
  
Walking unsteadily, one hand on the seats she passed, Rei walked up to the wall of power. She raised her voice to make sure she was heard above the crackling heat. "This will keep you safe from anything that might come around. I'm sorry, but I won't let you get hurt because of me." She shifted her gaze and locked stares with the shifting, shimmering Heero on the other side. He moved closer to the edge and glared back. Suddenly feeling guilty, Rei blushed and turned away. "I have to." She said, not quite loud enough. Slowly, she backed away, and ran around the auditorium, around the bubble prison, and out the doors.  
  
I know, I know, too short and too late. But school just started, so give me a break here! Anyway, I would like to give a BIG thank you to everyone who reviewed, I finally broke 200!! This is so exciting... Well, I hope this chapter wasn't too weird, I've been out of it for a while.. But I did make a couple revisions on my last chapter, so I hope it isn't so awkward now. Well, give me a review, let me know how it is! 


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20  
  
Somewhere in the universe, a woman sat on a throne swathed in darkness, the air around her crackling with anger. A lone figure crouched in front of her, shivering.  
  
"Mistress, please, please forgive me! I know I have-"  
  
"I do not want excuses." The woman said quietly, closing her eyes and willing the darkness around her to calm. She took a breath. "I want results. And for those results, I want that girl dead."  
  
"Mistress, please just one more chance! I beg of you!" The creature bent lower, giving his pleads to the floor.  
  
Silence permeated the room, broken irregularly by the creature's ragged sobs. "Please."  
  
"You have failed me too many times, you worthless nit." Anger flared again, and the darkness began to vibrate once more. "I have no use for you." She concluded simply.  
  
The hunched creature let loose a broken howl of pain as flames engulfed his figure. The woman breathed in the wave of heat that washed over her and she smiled. The dying fire revealed a sunken face with fierce amber eyes glaring from the depth of her skull. Harsh black hair was twisted and pulled into a loop on the back of her narrow head. A deep red robe set on her lithe frame, its shadows dancing with the vanishing flames. The fire died away and the woman was left again with her darkness.  
  
Darkness twisted in front of her and a crimson orb appeared. Letting her hands rest on it, she took a slow breath and let an image filter through the crimson. A girl, about her age and height walked quickly across a gold-tiled floor in socked feet. The woman let her hands fall to her sides as she smiled. "Never send a nit to do a woman's job." Smile widening, she reached forward again and bent over the orb. "Now, it's my turn."  
  
I'm sorry!!!!! I really wanted to update sooner, but, sadly, I'm really not feeling this story right now... The thought even entered my head to just skip all the nice stuff I had planned and end it in the next chapter, but I'm hoping I'll get some inspiration soon. So don't worry, I will try to update soon, and don't be mad I couldn't update sooner with a longer chapter... Though this chapter itself was just to give some background info on what is happening to Rei. If you didn't catch it, the underling was the one who kept trying to kill Rei, but since he failed too many times, someone new is going to try and kill her. Well, I hope it clears every thing up! Once again, don't be mad, but if you must be, tell me in a review! 


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21  
  
Rei tip-toed silently through the lobby, off-handedly wondering why she was being so quiet. (Why am I so tense? Is something about to happen?) But nothing did, and she stopped at the base of the stairs, trying to clear her head. (Okay. Deep breaths... Where to go next... Yes. The maze under the Atlantis room.) She smiled with resolution and turned towards the doors on the other side of the room.  
  
But, strangely, her feet didn't slide with her, but stayed facing the stairs. Feeling slightly off balance, Rei grabbed ahold of the railing to steady herself. "What the-" She asked out loud and tried to pulled her feet up, but only succeeded in forcing audible cracks from her ankles. "You have got to be kidding..." She sighed with exasperation, which ended up sounding much like a growl. "What's the matter, out of ideas?" She asked the ceiling. "You've stuck me here, threw some zombies at me, nearly pulled my power out, and suffocated me! Is sticking me to the floor the best you can come up with right now?!"  
  
Heero's P.O.V.  
  
Rei walked stiffly from the auditorium, and Heero refused to admit he was amazed with her. She seemed to have some sort of heart attack, to get them off guard no doubt, and had at some point put barrier chargers in the floor, only to carefully orchestrate her entire fainting/suffocating acts so they would be directly inside the barriers when she activated them. (Then again, there is the possibility...) He swallowed the thought before it could go any further. (No. It is physically impossible. So is ejecting bullets from one's own skin...) Crossing his arms, and still staring at the closed auditorium doors, blurry though the wall of heat, Heero frowned in thought.  
  
"So, anyone have any bright ideas?" Duo asked, pointedly looking at Relena, who stood apart from everyone, looking annoyingly patient and unruffled.  
  
"Try spitting on it." She retorted, her irritated response clashing with her calm expression.  
  
Duo snorted at her and turned away. A second later, almost as if to challenge her, he spit shortly on the base of the section of wall before him. There was a faint sizzling sound and a hole appeared there. Soon, the hole spread and the whole side was gone. Less than five astonished seconds later, the entire barrier was completely dissipated.  
  
"Well, that was unexpected." Treize commented quietly.  
  
There was a faint sound of yelling from the lobby and the group, silently, made their way to the door. Heero, in front, glanced behind him before cracking open the door.  
  
"...nearly pulled my power out, and suffocated me! Is sticking me to the floor the best you can come up with right now?!" Rei was breathing heavily and yelling up at the ceiling.  
  
Having slipped out of the doors and crouched down on the stairway, Heero slid over and made room for the others. Quatre, coming up next to him, gestured silently to Rei and looked at Heero, confused. Heero didn't respond, showing he had no idea what she was talking about, or who she was talking to.  
  
Rei's P.O.V.  
  
Rei sighed again, and dropped her hands to her sides. "So, are you just going to keep me here, until I die from starvation, or from having to go to the bathroom?" She asked quieter, suddenly feeling ridiculous for yelling at the darkness that wasn't listening to her.  
  
Pressing silence filled the large room, and Rei felt herself expecting an answer. Suppressing another sigh, she pursed her lips. Suddenly, as though it had just happened, Rei realized the sound of buzzing energy was gone. Frowning, she was about to twist around when a small hiss permeated the silence.  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for?" It was clearly Relena's voice.  
  
Rei's short laugh punctuated the irritated sighed of several others in the room, who had just been given away. "So this is why I'm stuck here. You're going to make me answer to them." She crossed her arms and glared up at the ceiling, knowing the darkness on the other side was watching her and laughing, knowing she would have to explain exactly how she managed to get that energy wall up.  
  
Whoa! Okay, before you spear me for taking so long, just know I have been spending my time wisely! I've had essays up the wazoo and mountains of homework! But, I still managed to get this out! (It's like, 10 at night, which is why this chapter is so short...and more or less just a filler chapter for things to come.) Well, please review me, and try not to be too mad I'm not updating so regular anymore! 


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22  
  
Several light footsteps sounded behind her, but Rei didn't turning around to face them.  
  
"Hands on your head!" Relena cried indignantly.  
  
"Rei snorted and looked back at her, not surprised to see her same, irritated expression on every other face.  
  
"We'll handle this, Relena." Heero said impatiently. Relena pursed her lips but fell silent. Heero turned to Rei. "Your shield failed."  
  
"I can see that." Rei relied shortly. "How'd you do it?"  
  
"We spat on it." Duo's smug reply came with an equally smug grin.  
  
Rei rolled her eyes. (Please. The darkness probably just waited until you tried something to suck my power out...)  
  
"You can't run anymore, Rei." Treize stepped forward, unarmed and strangely sympathetic. "You are going to have to start explaining."  
  
Violet eyes narrowed in hastily concealed panic. (Explain... What...should I say?)  
  
"You could start with the truth." A hoarse, feminine voice suggested.  
  
Rei's head shot up and she looked frantically around the room. "There! That voice!"  
  
"I'm right here, princess." The voice spat the title. In the shadows by the auditorium door, stood a bony, but obviously feminine figure draped in a crimson robe.  
  
"Nia." Rei hissed, her anger already pulling at her power. "You know I banished you for a reason."  
  
"Yes." Nia's claw-like fingers clutched at her sleeves. "Fear!"  
  
"Fear?" Rei scorned, suddenly forgetting the eight pairs of eyes that darted between her and Nia. "I banished you because of your betrayal!"  
  
"Betrayal?" Nia sneered. "You are unfit to be princess. You simply took your power, and ran off to Earth with it, not so much as giving an extra thought for your own planet!"  
  
"At least I kept Mars safe!" Rei was nearly screaming in anger. "Don't think I don't know what you were planning to do! If you had succeeded, you would have destroyed us all!"  
  
This time, Nia kept silent. Slowly, a smile crept onto her thin face. "Oh, look what you've done, princess." Her eyes went to the small crowd separating her and Rei. "You've gone and revealed your secret."  
  
Realization checked anger and quickly spiraled into fear. Rei's eyes shifted and locked onto Heero's. "I...um..."  
  
"Mars?" He questioned softly.  
  
"Um, it's...complicated." Rei searched for an explanation.  
  
"Think, princess... so many years of secrecy," Nia taunted. "Just to be broken now."  
  
"Shut up." Rei's voice wavered. "It's your fault."  
  
Nia covered her mouth in mock modesty. "Oh my, it is isn't it?"  
  
A click pulled attention to Heero. "You obviously betrayed Rei, a princess, which makes you a traitor." His cold voice condemned Nia. "Traitors deserve to be punished."  
  
"Aren't we the self-righteous one?" Nia snarled.  
  
Several other guns unholstered and aimed for Nia.  
  
"He's right." Wufei defended. "Traitors deserve nothing but death."  
  
"Now, now... Weren't we all aiming for our dear little princess just a moment ago?" Nia taunted.  
  
"This new bit of information seems to shed light on things." Quatre stated easily. "Her actions seem a bit more understandable now."  
  
Nia's face soured and she snorted. "Fine. Be that way."  
  
Then, without any further theatrics, she was gone. Simply vanished.  
  
"Well..." Zechs muttered softly. "That's...interesting."  
  
"Considering we've just heard," Heero lowered his gun but did not holster it. "I'm not exactly surprised."  
  
Nia's P.O.V.  
  
"Understandable?!" Nia shrieked into the circle of darkness around her. "How is she now 'understandable'?! I had them! I had them all against her!" She paced back and forth in her circle of dim light, power crackling around her. She stopped, and closed her eyes. (Calm. Be calm. You don't need them. They were just the insurance, remember?) The thought struck her and she stopped. (Yes, insurance. Well, I think it's time they proved their usefulness...)  
  
She waved her hand before her and a swirling scarlet orb floated up from the floor. A harsh smiled spread across her face as the swirling mists parted in the orb and revealed a small group.  
  
Quatre's P.O.V.  
  
(This is why. This is why she's been running from us. To protect us.)  
  
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?!" Rei shouted at Heero.  
  
"I'm not being stubborn. I'm being logical." Heero remained as collected as ever, though Rei was obviously close to blowing up something, perhaps literally.  
  
"What logic? I. Can. Handle. Myself. I don't need protection! I've been running around here in just as much danger as you!"  
  
"We didn't realize you were someone of status." Quatre sighed, somewhat reluctant to get involved. "If you died here, which is obviously Nia's plan, she would use the opportunity to take your...planet." He shifted and looked around. "Sorry, I just can't get used to the idea of a princess of another planet."  
  
Rei sighed heavily and crossed her arms. "You shouldn't have to get used to the idea. You're not supposed to know."  
  
Trieze cleared his throat loudly and stepped forward. "We need to move on. Nia will be planning something by now."  
  
"Yes. We need to take you somewhere." Heero agreed.  
  
"Take me somewhere?!" Rei cried indignantly. "I'm not going-"  
  
She stopped. Heero, Duo, Treize, Zechs were all gone. Vanished.  
  
I'm soooooo sorry I haven't updated in forever!!!!! I just lost touch with this story and I couldn't get a single thing down... But I'm back! And I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed me during this blue period. *sigh* But I'm back in action, and you can expect another chapter up soon! I was going to try to end it in this chapter, but when I started, I just couldn't imagine cutting out all my plans, so I'm going to keep going! Review, please! 


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23  
  
Rei's breath caught in her throat. "No..." Her eyes darted around the room and her hands clenched into fists. "You..." She turned her face to the ceiling. "Give them back!"  
  
"What happened?" Relena's timid voice pierced Rei's anger. "What happened to them?" Relena clasped her hands together and looked around her.  
  
"She took them." Quatre answered, his own voice falsely composed.  
  
"Because of me." Rei whispered darkly. "Because of me!" Behind her, a chair flew back against a wall, suddenly charred. Her hands went to the sides of her head and she squeezed her eyes shut. "It's my fault..."  
  
"No." Trowa inserted firmly. "She took them as bait." He paused as Rei looked up at him. "She wants you to do something, finish this game I would assume, and she is using them as incentive."  
  
Breathing slowing coming under control, Rei lowered her hands and opened her eyes. "Then I'll finish the damn game."  
  
Standing apart from the others, Wufei watched everything with growing irritation. (I know it's not her fault, and she does too. Why is she taking responsibility? And doing exactly what the enemy wants, that cannot be the best course of action.) "You will be falling into a trap if you do what she says." He stated quietly, and Rei rounded on him.  
  
"And what am I supposed to do?!" Rei stood up straight and glowered down on him. "I am not going to just stay somewhere while you three fix things. He," She paused. "They were captured because of me, and I will fix this."  
  
Wufei crossed his arms and turned away. (No point in arguing with a woman. She will get herself in to trouble...)  
  
Relena looked up. She had not overlooked Rei's momentary focus on only one of the missing. "Yes, you will fix this." Relena spat from the other side of the steps. Finding her own resolve, she straightened. "You're some great princess." She glared at Rei. "Bring him back."  
  
Somewhat taken aback by Relena's forcefulness, Quatre stepped away from her, and turned to Rei. "It is not your fault, but we can do something. You are a princess, and you must understand that you can't do this alone."  
  
"We can help you." Trowa summarized quietly.  
  
Rei hesitated. (They will be in more danger if they stay with me...)  
  
"The woman has already taken a good portion of our group." Wufei uncrossed his arms and turned to look at Rei over his shoulder. "If you are thinking about forcing us to stay here because of 'danger', you will be refusing needed assistance." He turned away once more. "She has her bait. She won't need any more."  
  
Suddenly irritated for no reason, Rei crossed her arms and continued to glare at his turned back. "Forgive me for caring." She growled.  
  
"It is to whom your care is directed that's bothering me." He bit back.  
  
It took a moment for the comment to register, then Rei's anger was soon replaced with a faint blush. "That's... We need to get going." Pushing the awkwardness of the moment away, she absently tugged on her skirt and looked around. "Where's the bag?"  
  
Trowa lifted it to her, giving her a strange smile. "Where to?"  
  
Relena held in her absolute frustration behind her practiced calm mask. She had not missed a second of the exchange and understood every said and unsaid word. (How can they? Those three know Heero! How could they just go and imply that he would ever...) Her thoughts drifted away from tangible words and into quiet irritation.  
  
I know it's short, but I promised an update soon, and this is all I could get out right now. Oh and I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter, thanks, and to those who noticed (thank you B.E.C.A.) I have had a hard time managing so many characters at one time and some of them were getting kind-of bland. So, that little improv (no, I did not plan it) kidnapping scene was a nice solution, ne? Well, drop a line, I like to hear what you think so far! Review! 


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24  
  
The great stone face in the Atlantis room stood open, just as Rei expected. (The last one is there. Just get it and we can get on with collecting the spirits.) Jumping down the steps, the others followed silently, knowing better than to get in her way after the past few hours.  
  
Quatre momentarily brushed at his shirt sleeve. The very end was browned and stiff, a reminder of Rei potent anger. (It was my own fault, jumping ahead like that... If she hadn't flamed that creature, I'd be...) His fingers dropped off his sleeve. (She knows what she's doing.)  
  
They stopped in front of the doorway beside the stone face. "There's a doorway down here and beyond that, a maze. At the end of that maze, there's one of the last jars we need." Suddenly feeling awkward, Rei turned to face them. Four pairs of eyes looked back at her, one pair stood out from the others, a fierce blue knifed into Rei from the behind Duo.  
  
(I'll get him back.) Rei tried to tell her, but the words remained in her mouth and she turned away in frustration.  
  
Starting down the steps, she pulled a thin piece of paper from the cloth at her chest. Pausing at the bottom, an emotion just barely registered behind her eyes as she looked at the paper.  
  
Rei pulled the paper back away from him over her shoulder. "What? Don't trust me?" She taunted, suddenly very smug about catching Heero's attention, even if he may not have wanted it to happen.  
  
He leaned over her and snatched the paper, taking advantage of Rei's surprise at his sudden nearness. "I'll check the sequence." He stated firmly, in his monotonous voice that left no room for argument.  
  
(Stop that now. You have to end this or you'll never see him again.) The door at the bottom of the stair, dimly lit by what little light filtered in from the room above, loomed before her, covered in carved symbols and faintly colored designs. Unfolding the paper, Rei jumped at the sound of a gun locking. She turned briefly to see Wufei casually inspecting his gun. He nodded his head at the door.  
  
"Get on with it."  
  
Vaguely irritated at his tone, but grateful for the added protection, Rei turned back to the door and looked down at the paper. The scribbled notes stared back at her and she reached out and pushed the first panel. And another. And another. And back to the first one. The panel slid out again and the door growled, stone grinding against stone. The door slid away, and a rush of warm air hit them. The cavern opened up before them and Rei heard someone behind her take a short gasp.  
  
The cavern was huge, carved out of a red stone with a number of dark openings scattered around the cave's circumference. Each one had a black pict of a stick man with a spear. The red stone was rough and the darker bands seemed to shift around. "Like fire..." Rei whispered.  
  
A sudden shot rang out and Rei jerked in surprise. Across the cavern, a lone, blackened creature stumbled out of an opening and dropped to the floor.  
  
Calmly reloading, Quatre stepped up next to Rei. "Which door?"  
  
"I don't know-" She paused, almost expecting a retort from Relena, but she was busy looking at the pict next to their door. "We just have to pick one."  
  
"We need to stay together." Trowa input quietly. "Splitting up will only get everyone lost."  
  
"So which door then?" Wufei looked around the cavern, arms crossed.  
  
"What about the one the zombie came out of?" Relena suggested. Everyone turned to look at her, surprised. Rei unconsciously held her breath, waiting for a side remark. "Well, you said they're attracted to the jars, and if there's one at the other end of this maze..." She looked around, defying anyone to yell at her.  
  
"She's got a point." This time everyone turned to look at Rei. "The zombie door it is." Turning, with her most level expression on, Rei started across the cavern. Going on an impulse, Relena followed, leaving Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre a few steps behind.  
  
"They just agreed..." Quatre whispered.  
  
"Odd."  
  
"You guys coming?" Rei yelled from the door.  
  
"Just ignore it." Wufei resolved and started over.  
  
After a good twenty minutes of fiery red stone walls, mindless turns, and last minute left/right decisions, the group found themselves, not at the glorious end of the maze, but back where they started.  
  
Rei let out a heavy sigh. "There's goes the logical decision out the window..." She glanced around the cavern. "If there was a window..."  
  
"So what, do we just keep-" Relena stopped short. Rei turned to her. But she wasn't there.  
  
"Oh no..." Quatre stared at the spot where she had once been.  
  
"You're moving too slow, Mars, dear..." Nia's voice echoed ominously off the curved walls.  
  
"Stop it! You have you're bait, we're moving already!" Rei shouted at the ceiling, her own voice echoing.  
  
"Oh, you're moving just a little too slow for me. Pick up the pace..." He voice faded and a stream of fire suddenly erupted over the stone of the ceiling.  
  
The fire faded as soon as it began, leaving Wufei, Trowa, Quatre, and a furious Rei alone in the cavern.  
  
(WHY?! She was just starting to act nice! Why did Nia have to take her too?!) Taking deep breaths to try and steady herself. "Let's go." Suddenly sprinting across the cavern, Rei picked the first door she saw and ran through it. A creature, rambling towards her around a turn, met with a harsh death in a bout of flame.  
  
A hard ten minutes of running found them back at the central cave. "DAMN!" Rei shouted, slamming her fist into the wall.  
  
"Just keep going, Rei, it has to be around here somewhere." Quatre soothed through Rei's anger.  
  
Picking another door they ran and ran, leaving dustings of zombies in their wake. Finally, after a long while running, they entered a room somewhat different. "About...time..." Rei growled though gasps of breath.  
  
The room was smaller than the cavern, but was still made of the same fiery stone. A pool of thick, bubbling tar snaked around the room, cutting it in half. On the other side, on a shelf cut in the stone, the top to a jar sat, almost blending in with the surrounding stone. Rei stood up straight and took a deep breath. "There it is."  
  
"Is it the last one?" Trowa eyed it suspiciously and crossed his arms.  
  
"We need one more jar to go with this other top..." Quatre replied absently, sorting noisily through the bag.  
  
"Alright then." Rei stepped out of the entrance and up to the stream, at the narrowest point. (We're so close now, we can get through this...)  
  
Just as she stepped up to the bank, one of the bubbles exploded before her feet and an oozing mass rose up. As tar dripped away from the face, Nia's likeness sneered at her.  
  
Vaguely aware of gunshots, Rei's anger flared up and she swept out her arm, inches from the creature's face. It ducked and looked up at her, almost confused, before bursting into flames. The fire raced over the room, following the snake path of the tar. Nia's creature writhed in the blaze for a moment, then shriveled back into the muck now concealed under the fire.  
  
Wufei stepped up next to Rei. "That was efficient." He observed, looking around the room. Rei looked over at him, unsure if he was being sarcastic.  
  
"I can still get over there." She said. (Is he really being sarcastic?)  
  
"It would be best if we could move as quickly as possible..." Trowa prompted quietly.  
  
"Oh! Yeah." Rei looked through the flames for the other side and found the other bank. Taking a deep breath, she leapt through the fire and landed, somewhat unsteadily, on the other side. The jar sat in the corner, its shadow flickering behind it. "Here you are..." She reached up to take it down. As her hands clasped around the warmed clay, a shout behind her brought her running back through the flames.  
  
"She took..." Quatre began, looking at the ground, where Trowa had stood only seconds before when Rei had passed through the fire.  
  
"She took Trowa." Rei finished. Her arms dropped to her sides, and she looked down at the jar in her hand. "I'm taking the bag."  
  
"B-"  
  
"That is the most logical thing to do." Wufei cut Quatre off. Looking over at the smaller boy, he held out his hand. "Either one of us could be taken next, and if she decides to take that bag too..." He left the sentence unfinished.  
  
"It won't hurt anything if I carry it." Rei assured as she slung the strap over her shoulder.  
  
That's al I have!!! I really wanted to be able to get the whole last chapter down in one shot, but this is all I can get to come out! I appreciate all the reviews I've gotten recently especially, since I haven't updated since...February. I'm so sorry!!! I have another fic, Inuyasha, up on Mediaminer, and that's kept my focus recently. I will finish this fic, I promise, it just may take me awhile... Please review, they might spur something in this accursed imagination... 


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25  
  
"Okay, the very last one." Rei stopped in front of the rusted door. They were in the generator room, in the very back, surrounded by thrumming generators and shifting shadows. She turned to Quatre and Wufei and sighed. "Once we capture the lightning one, the walls will fall apart and the game ends. We'll most likely have to fight Nia head on then."  
  
Quatre finished loading his gun and looked up at her. "Hurry."  
  
Rei turned the handle and pushed. The door squeaked, but remained shut. She jammed her shoulder against the cold metal and pushed harder. Wufei and Quatre stood on either side of her and leveled themselves against the door as well. After moments of grunts and scraping, the door finally screeched open and landed the three on their knees in front of a shaking, squealing generator. Electric bolts shot from exposed wires, and the shaking seemed to increase with their presence.  
  
"Hurry up, any one of us could be taken while we're so close to the end..." Wufei warned, handing Rei the pot and eyeing the convulsing machine warily.  
  
"Okay, okay..." Rei said absently, taking the pot as she got up.  
  
Stepping forward, Rei held up the pot towards the machine as the electric bolts suddenly began forming a shape and the familiar music found its way through the grinding metal and drone of the electricity. The bolt suddenly snapped together, forming a shape in front of Rei, a long, thin creature that roared at her as the pot began to glow. The roar changed to one of anger as a wind felt only by the creature pulled it towards the pot. With a crack of light, it was suddenly gone, leaving the machine calm, only hissing softly as it returned to an un-possessed state.  
  
The jar turned to a dull gold in Rei's hands and she suddenly clutched it to her chest and whipped around. "Is everyone still here?!"  
  
Wufei and Quatre looked at each other. "Yes." Quatre frowned.  
  
"She didn't take anyone this time." Wufei murmured and looked past Rei at the machine. "Didn't you say the walls were supposed to cave in?"  
  
Realization hit Rei and she slowly turned around. The walls were intact and looked as strong as ever. "What... But what... What are we supposed to do?"  
  
Once again, sorry for the incredibly short chapter... I finally forced myself to sit down and plan out the rest of the story, so I have what's going to happen. I just can't get it all down. I'm sorry, I'm glad you all are being so patient with me, and thank all of you for the reviews, they really helped. I'm going to try to get something down tomorrow, maybe I can force something to come out. Since I'm only giving you this for a chapter, I'm going to try to give you a bunch of little ones until my mind stops being a brat and lets me type. Sorry... Please review, it really does help... 


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26  
  
Dropping the bag, Rei ran around the machine to the walls behind it. (Not so much as a crack!) Her hands dropped to her sides and she looked up at the rough concrete bricks. (This was supposed to be the end!) "What do we do now?"  
  
"Maybe there's another way out." Quatre volunteered, coming up behind Rei and putting his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe with the game done, we can get out over the fence."  
  
Rei looked back at him and smiled weakly. "Maybe." (What if we're stuck here? What if-) The sudden flash of Heero's face, tight with anger and pain entered her mind, quickly followed by Nia's sadistic laughter. "Yes. It has to work." (It just has to.)  
  
(No...) Rei sat heavily on the gravel path, not caring how the rocks bit into the backs of her legs.  
  
Quatre jumped down from the top of the wall. "I'm sorry."  
  
Rei gave him a weak smile. "No, it's not your fault. It's just..." She trailed off, searching for something to say. The silence lengthened.  
  
"So that's it then?" Wufei said flatly. "We all just sit down and give up-"  
  
"What else do you want to do?!" Rei yelled up at him. "Because if you have another idea, then let's hear it!"  
  
Wufei looked down at her, anger sharp in his eyes but absent on his face. "You may give up as you please. I, however, will not leave the others to die." He looked away suddenly. "And I will not die here, in this...place."  
  
Rei let her anger die and dropped her eyes to her feet, and now muddy socks.  
  
Quatre sighed and closed his eyes. "We just have to think this through." He crossed his arms. "Are you sure, that the end of the game was down in the generator room?"  
  
Rei nodded, head still bent. "Yeah. After we collect all the other Ixupi, we go down and get the lightning one from the generator room, and the walls fall in, there's a nice little movie sequence-"  
  
"Sssh!" Wufei hissed, and knelt down.  
  
Twisting up to her knees, Rei looked over at him. "What're you-"  
  
"What is..." Quatre slid down the wall and knelt next to Wufei. Both of them were staring over at the building. Rei turned and froze. High above them, on the top floor of the orange bricked building, a huge creature, easily as big as one of the generators, stood, black arms crossed. Its unearthly green eyes were easily visible from the ground. It suddenly swelled, and let out a deafening roar, and for the first time since she had fallen into the game, Rei was afraid.  
  
Hideous fangs dripping with saliva, it glared down at the three, challenging.  
  
"No...we can't..." Rei whispered, and Wufei looked over at her. "We can't win... Not against that thing..."  
  
"You've faced that thing before?" Quatre whispered, not taking his eyes off the black figure that stood stark against the bricks like a shadow.  
  
"Yes..." Rei shivered and seemed to pull into herself. "Yes, I don't know how Nia got it... But last time I fought it..." She closed her eyes, remembering the terrible battle. "It killed me..."  
  
Okay, a little longer, and I know I promised I'd get this out sooner, but the first time I tried to write it, I only managed to get three paragraphs down. As I said, I have the story planned out, I just have to get it all down. I'll keep trying, but you may have figured out by now it won't be easy or very fast. Please review, I know you've heard it before, but the reviews really do help! 


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"It what?!" Quatre looked back at her in alarmed confusion.

"It killed me." Rei repeated quietly, not taking her eyes off the monster still glaring at the from the high, brick wall.

"And if...that thing killed you-" Wufei turned to look at her closely. "How are you here now?"

"I was reborn." She paused as they both looked back at her. Rei dropped her eyes. "Princess thing. The others managed to destroy it, but I..." She trailed off. Standing up slowly, she focused on the monster now grinning wildly down at her. (I don't have a choice.) Heero's face appeared before her and she called her power. (I have to finish this.) The others stood up around her. (I have to get back to him.)

Pulling in a heavy breath, Rei concentrated her power into her hands.

"So we fight it?" Quatre looked up as he unlocked his gun.

"No choice." Rei muttered and suddenly thrust her hands out and to fireballs hurtled towards the creature.

Jumping nimbly out of the way, it leapt off the building and landed with a crash on the sidewalk the walkway crunched under his weight and sent gravel flying.

Dodging bits of rock, the three moved a bit apart. A sudden gunshot rang out and the creature stumbled forward. It emitted a low growl, and focused its fierce, glowing eyes on Wufei.

The distraction let Rei send more fireballs into his side and the creature stumbled again and clutched its side. Letting out a howl, it cast its arm at Rei and a wave of power sent her flying into the outer wall. A suddenly volley of gunshots resounded through the courtyard as Rei hit the ground.

The rocks bit into her feet as she stood up. Quatre and Wufei were now on either side of the creature, firing as it twisted between them, howling. Ugly, purple blood oozed from its wounds and spattered the ground below.

And suddenly the gunfire stopped. There were a few empty clicks and the creature finally fell to its knees, grasping at its wounds.

"We're empty!" Quatre yelled and looked over at Rei, worry strong in his voice.

The creature suddenly swung his arm towards Quatre, sending him flying into the gravel. Then, turning on Wufei, it charged, ignoring its wounds, claws out. Wufei had nowhere to run; in front of a wall, next to the water, he picked up a rock and slammed it into the creature's face just as it lunged. It howled in pain, but it had succeeded. Three of its claws were now embedded in Wufei's stomach.

He looked down and suddenly coughed, splattering crimson over the black and purple arm pinning him to the wall.

"No!" Rei screamed and pulled every ounce of her power into one massive ball. It burst from her and plowed into the creature. The monster howled as it flew aside, ripping its claws from Wufei's stomach. It hit the ground, crushing the lip of the river. A splash and it was finally dead. Its head and arm fell beneath the surface and it stilled.

With a groan, Wufei clutched his bleeding stomach and slid to the ground. Breathing heavily, Quatre shakily rose to his feet. "Is it-"

The creature suddenly burst into ashes and disintegrated, leaving only the buckled ground to show where it had fallen.

"Yeah." Rei answered, leaning forward to rest on her knees. "It's dead."

A rough cough brought their attention back to Wufei. He had his fist stuffed in the wound, but his blood seeped out around it. Running over to him, Rei stopped a few feet from him. He looked up.

"I don't-"

Rei kneeled down and waved for him to be quiet. "Stop it. Your going to..." She trailed off. (Oh God, he's going to die- He's bleeding too much-and- Wait!) Rei gasped as an idea hit her.

"Can't-can't you heal him?" Quatre slid to the ground on the other side of Wufei. "Like you healed yourself?"

Rei breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah. Just-" She reached for his wound.

'Now, now, Princess...' Nia's voice sounded above them. 'Don't want to make his boo-boo any worse, now do you?' Her dry, metallic laugh cut the air.

"No..." Rei whispered.

"It..." Wufei caught Rei's wrist. "It was...an honor, Princess." He looked at her intently for a moment before he vanished.

I'm alive!!!!!!!!! Please don't be mad it took me so long to update!! I know I've said it before, but I just haven't been into this story recently, but only a few more chapters left, as you may have guessed. And on top of everything, school's keeping me really busy, so That just takes up even more of my time. Please review!!!


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Rei stood slowly, her eyes fixed on the ground where Wufei had lain not a moment before. (How, how, how, I don't know if I can do this.) Still staring, she sighed, but her breath came short and her chest tightened. (I can't. I keep failing and I still don't know what to do.) "Quatre, I-"

She turned to face him and jumped sharply as Nia's voice cut through the air. 'I'm tired of waiting, Princess. Time's up.'

Rei met Quatre's eyes and she felt her heart twist in her chest. (No no no no no no I can't do it I'll never find Heero again-) She suddenly threw her arms around him and threw herself into the power wrapping itself around him. (I don't care if she kills me let her kill me I can't do it alone.)

"Rei…" Quatre's voice was quiet and he gently wrapped his arms around he shoulders. (God, I know she can save us, help her help her-) And when a snap went through his body like a spasm and Rei was gone.

Rei's head pounded as the power Nia had used to pull Quatre away slowly dissipated. She was suddenly lying down, the ground cold against her cheek. (MOVE!) Jerking away out of pure instinct, a fireball the size of her head slammed down where her head had been seconds before. (Wait a minute…) The ground wasn't ground. It was darkness. Rei looked up just in time to dodge another fireball.

"You broke my game!" Nia flew from the darkness and Rei quickly deflected a smaller fireball. Stopping short, Nia glared at Rei, breathing raggedly. "Do you have any idea," Her voice slowly rose. "How long it took me to make that!"

"Where are the others?" Rei demanded, trying to keep her voice level. (Concentrate, stay ready.)

Suddenly regaining composure, Nia straightened. "Who? Oh, you mean your little friends?" Nia lifted her hand. "Like dear Relena?" Relena suddenly emerged from the darkness, walking slowly, her low heels not making any noise on the dark floor. Rei stared into blank eyes. (Wait wait if she kept her alive Heero might-) But Nia's laugh cut off her thought.

"Oh, don't expect miracles now, Princess. Relena Dorlin is actually back in her own little world, organizing peace and whatnot." Nia allowed a chuckle. "_This_ Relena, well," She stepped back. "She wasn't too fond of her previous company." This time the chuckle grew to a dark, terrible laugh and Rei caught flashes of their broken, bloody bodies. Heero's exploded into her mind's eye and stayed there. (Nonononononono-) Power exploded and Rei was vaguely aware of the doll Relena fading into Nia's place.

"Get back here!" Rei screamed and doll Relena spasmed before erupting into flames. Nia had faded completely into the darkness. "NOOOOOOOOO!" Rei shrieked as her heart thumped madly in her chest and tears streamed down her face. The image of Heero's body seemed to throb with her heart and she wrenched from her body a final explosion of power. She gave one last tortured cry as the darkness caved in on her.

"Hey….and….finally…"

Voices trickles into Rei's mind.

"Shut …rest…" And faded away again.

Rei stayed in the darkness, letting it envelop her, and she thought about Heero. (Heero…I'm sorry…I failed you….You and everyone else…Heero…Please forgive me….)

"Who's a hero?" A small voice lifted the darkness away and Rei found herself lying in her own bed. She looked over to see Hotaru standing patiently at its side. Hotaru broke into a smile. "I knew you weren't dead. So who's the hero you keep talking about?"

Rei smiled. "His _name_ was Heero. He was a guy I met."

"In the other place?"

Rei hesitated. "Yes…How did you find me?"

Hotaru made a small wave. "Sestuna said there were little mess-ups in the continuum and it started in your room." She shot her hands up and Rei started. "Then you blew that universe totally up and we found you and those other people in the in-between space. So what did he look like? Which one was Heero?" Hotaru rested her head on the blanket. "Was he your Prince Charming?"

Rei forced a smile. "He had really messy hair and blue eyes. And as for the other question…I don't know. But Hotaru," Rei's voice wavered. "Is…. Is he-"

"He is recovering nicely." Another voice interrupted. Pluto, in uniform, stepped into the room.

Rei struggled to sit up. "Where! Can I see him! Was he-"

Pluto held up her hand and gestured for Hotaru to leave. Shutting the door behind her, Pluto pulled a chair over to Rei's bedside, leaning her staff against the wall as she sat down. "He was badly injured when we found him, but as I said, he is recovering well. Back in his own dimension." The color fell from Rei's face and she slumped back onto the pillows. Pluto smoothed the blanket. "If I had known he meant something to you-"

"I told you!" Rini's voice yelled defiantly from the other side of the door.

Pluto smiled lightly. "Had I known he meant so much to you, I would have kept him here. But as I did not…" She stood and took her staff in hand. "You will see him later." She turned to leave.

"Setsuna…" Rei called gently. "Where….where's Nia?" Her voice wavered, afraid.

Nodding gently, Pluto smiled. "Trapped in the universe she created to trap you. And one more thing," She stopped at the door. "How much of your powers did you show them, those people?"

Rei shrugged and winced. "I don't know, most of them I would guess. Why?"

Pluto shook her head. "That older one, with the red hair, he knew me. He said there was a book in the game's library about us."

Rei closed her eyes. "That explains a little."

Pluto nodded again. "Get well, Rei." And shut the door.

Rei stared into the portal. Lavender swirls reached out to brush her. (Does he want to see me? What about the real Relena?) Someone grabbed her shoulders from behind.

"Get in there, lovergirl." Minako giggled and shoved her forward.

Rei tumbled through the spirals, cursing the Goddess of Love. A surface stuck to her feet and she found herself in an empty hospital hallway. A door opened next to her and she started. Relena came out. Rei couldn't help but stare. The meanness, the spite, all of it was gone, leaving what looked like a strong-willed, kind woman. Rei opened her mouth but nothing came out.

Relena spoke first. "You must be Rei. I'm Relena." She held out her hand. Rei shook it with a sense of surreality.

"Um, yeah, I, uh…"

Relena just smiled. "Better get in there before he passes out again." A sense of urgency took over and Rei started towards the door. "Rei?" Relena called. Rei turned back to her. "Thanks." And she turned down the hall and left. Rei stared after her. (So that's the real Relena…) Suddenly remembering where she was, Rei opened the door.

Heero was laid out on the bed and his eyes darted to her as she entered. They widened in surprise for a moment before retreating back under his mask as Rei crossed the room to sit by his bed.

"Hello Heero."

"…Hello Rei."

The End

Phew! Well, It's done people! Finally done! I don't think I could even express how sorry I am that it took OVER A YEAR to post the last chapter. But I really do want to thank the people who still reviewed during my dry spell and all those who have been with me from the beginning, especially those who have been with me all through One Summer Day, To Love a Fire Goddess, and now through Shivers. I don't think I'll be doing any more fanfics for a while, I've got a ton of original ideas building, desperate to get written down. Once again, thanks to all of my fans. Kittens to you all!


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